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Pleasant Hours in Sunny Lands, 



IN 



A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 



B Y 



ISAAC XEWTOX LEWIS, A. M., LL.B. 



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'What is wbit is writ, 
Would it wbbe woethieb. 



BOSTOX: 

Published by the Author, 
1888. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888. by 

ISAAC NEWTON LEWIS, 
In the O.'iiee of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



Gr440 



Printed at the Transcript Office, 
Dedham, Mass. 

1888. 



TO LITTLE ANNIE MAY, WHOSE SILVERY LAUGH, 
AND GENTLE, WINNING WAYS HAVE WARMED THE HEART 
AND SOOTHED THE MIND, FOR MANY A VACAXT HOUR, 

El)tst ^agfs are ^raUfuIlg IBx^iicateU, 



PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Bright dreams of youth, 
In living forms arise. 

IVl EMORY, like a perfume, permeates the sense 
and lovingly draws us to a grateful realization of its 
fond presence. Never so trivial the occasion, the influ- 
ence is the same. Before me lies the unconscious 
agent of such renewed pleasure to-day. It is but an 
old newspaper, weather-beaten, yellow, and torn, but 
it speaks to me with more than earthly sweetness of 
past experience, thought to have been long since for- 
gotten. 

Rich labyrinths of palms and ferns, clouds of bright 
and delicately-tinted flow^ers, from earth to sky, spon- 
taneously rise before my awakening mind in scenes too 
beautiful but for heaven, and even now fill the mind 
with wonder and the heart with joy. It is a Calcutta 
daily, bearing date of Sept. 5, 1887. On that day I 
had decided to leave northern India, and had taken 



6 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

passage for Madras on the French ss. Tibre, of the 
M. M. line. All that afternoon, under the guidance of 
an English pilot, we had slowly backed down the 
Hoogly, till we had reached Garden Reach, by the 
palaces and gardens of the King of Oudh, our mooring 
for the night. 

One hundred wives has this old native king, all of 
whom, in return for his possessions up the river, are in 
royal style supported by the English government. The 
possibility of an enforced introduction to this motley 
and numerous household proved too much for my 
peace of mind, and had driven me to the cages of wild 
animals and the surrounding country for the few hours 
entertainment of enforced delay. 

On the following morning, the early sun glanced 
through the heavy foliage with a power worthy of an 
Indian midsummer. Up and down, to and fro, floated 
the tall, light feather grass in the morning breeze, and 
made me long to be up and away. 

Up and down the shaded deck, now watching the 
crowds of swarthy Hindoos openly bathing in the 
sacred stream, and now casting an admiring glance up 
at the beautiful French flag, gracefully floating in the 
air, we wore away the hours, until this, then bright and 
new, paper was handed me by the pilot, whose native 
servant had just arrived by rail from Calcutta with the 
latest news. It was a welcome guest, and fondly 
entertained by all those on board. How eagerly we 



IX A TOUR AKOUXD THE WORLD. 7 

all sou^^ht for news of home and friends ! And now, 
to-day, from a mass of foreign correspondence, discol- 
ored, yellow and torn, it thrusts itself forward to the 
light, and mutely appeals for recognition. As then, I 
now read in the clear type of its title page : 

" Passengers from Calcutta per ss. Tibre. 

For Pondicherry, P. Farrin, Lt. Col. Godfrey and 
wife, Miss and Mrs. Dubern. 

For Colombo, Mrs. Atkinson, Mr. Labousiere, wife 
and child, Le Pere de Wavre. 

For Marseilles, Chauvin. 

For Port Said, Isaac Newton Lewis. 

For Madras, Kader Saib, Abdoul Gaffer." 

These comprised the saloon. The many native 
passengers nearly all travelled either third class, or on 
deck, and probably thus saved their gold and silver 
with which to bedeck their bodies. The sight of that 
torn and faded souvenir of the East inspires me to jot 
down in some sort of way my many and varied experi- 
ences of that time, thou2:h I am fullv aware that, as in 
moral experiences, the beauty and interest often lie 
too deep for expression. All personal narrative is, at 
the best, but the reflection of experience. To fairly 
represent the panorama which is constantly passing 
before the gaze of one in his world-wide travels is 
beyond human power, yet to friends and relatives, and 
to those who have neither the time, means, nor health 
to travel, something now and then may appear in these 



8 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS. 

pages of interest, if not of profit. Like the clouds of 
eager doves swarming down on St. Mark's square in 
Venice, thoughts may crowd my mind but pass un- 
noticed. To me the experience is of more than earthly 
pleasure. To me it was worth my life to view the 
grandeur, sw^eetness, and profuse display of man and 
nature in the earth's broad circumference. 

To see nature in all her wealth and loveliness, I 
knew, necessitated my meeting her at her home. With 
native man it is not a whit different, not with beast or 
bird. To accomplish this there is needed something 
more than money, something more than time. 
Health, intelligent attention and, not least, great 
physical and moral strength and courage. If you 
possess these, and a good command of the English, 
Spanish, German, French and Italian languages, you 
are well equipped for a world-wide tour,but not without. 
My college education came to my rescue on every 
emergency, and with the exception of the Hindustanee 
of India, I lost none of my precious time in study 
during my whole trip. Much wisdom is required in 
selecting your wardrobe, as well as pecuniary means. 
Warm wraps are as necessary, as light and firm cloth- 
ing, for the tropics. In six hours and even less, the 
atmosphere may change from sultry to cool, from hot 
to wintry blast, but one valise for each hand is all in 
quantity that it is wise to carry. Much valuable time 
is often thus s^ved on trains and steamers, and ease of 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 9 

transportation as well as of stowing away in cabin, so 
greatly conducive to one's comfort and convenience, 
demands this. Three things are often forgotten in the 
outfit which are necessary to any enjoyable sea voyage, 
a good easy shoe or slipper for the feet, a powerful 
field-glass for the eye, and, most of all, a closely fitting 
hat or cap for the head. To suflFer from the sun or to 
suffer from tight boots is equally unnecessary. If you 
are well equipped, though you pass through the Red 
Sea with the thermometer at 190 degrees, as it was 
August 9, 1887, ^^ i^o degrees in the shade, as it was 
on my trip, you experience no actual suffering, but 
welcome ever}i:hing with some degree of comfort. 
Heat and cold can be largely neutralized by proper 
diet, and by travelling first class on any respectable 
mail-boat, reasonable comfort and pleasure are always 
to be found. 



10 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 



CHAPTER II. 

The sea, the deep blue sea. 

No one realizes the maritime importance of such 
eastern ports as Boston and New York as the traveller. 
The tons of shipping, the majestic ocean steamers and 
the officious but necessary little tug boat soon disap- 
pear from view as one goes southward, and in but a 
feeble way appear again until you have travelled up 
the long Pacific coast to San Francisco. The same is 
nearly true in the Orient. Yokohama and Nagasaki 
in Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong in China, Singa- 
pore and Penang in the tropical Straits Settlements, 
and Calcutta and Bombay in India, are the only ports 
on the Pacific and Indian oceans which furnish the 
traveller with anything like the busy scenes of even 
our contracted Boston. I took passage from New 
York one lovely morning in a long, trim steamship, 
lightly loaded — and as lightly officered and manned — 
the captain being a perfect gentleman, but with abilities 
that would have shone less dimly as a lecturer to a 
young men's literary club, who entrusted the naviga- 
tion of the vessel to the third officer, aged about twenty 
years, whose common cry in a storm was '' Come, gen- 
tlemen, please assist us to take in this sail," while his 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. \\ 

superior stood by dudishly twirling his eye glasses and 
smoothing an illfitting pair of yellow kids, intended to 
keep his hands from tanning. From Sandy Hook to 
Barnegat light the ocean looked its prettiest; but from 
that point to Cape Hatteras, where the Monitor went 
down during the war of the Rebellion, the boat played 
like a dolphin, pulling herself up here and rolling first 
on one side then on the other, till our heads pleaded for 
rest, and many a stomach for relief. My strong, good- 
natured Connecticut companion soon began to look 
worried, then anxious, and hastily retired below. The 
lovely, wide awake little widow, who had all the voyage 
entertained us with her wit and wisdom, suddenly 
ceased with a convulsive '' I won't, there I " But she 
did. The sudden blanching of the face and a feeble 
look, half sickly, half frightened, led us to help her to 
seclusive preparation for so unequal a contest. The 
little girl and boy of one of the chief engineers, who 
had romped around the hurricane deck until they began 
to gasp and cry, were also beyond consolation. It was 
a complete triumph of the playful sea over boastful 
and self-willed man. Whv I never suffered from sea 
sickness is beyond my comprehension. When I first 
perceive others falling under its influence, I throw 
myself completely under my strongest will power, and 
keep my imagination and senses under constant con- 
trol. If that can account for my escape, it is well 
worth the fullest trial, for surely nothing can exceed 



12 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

the annoyance, the abject misery, both in feature, form 
and sense, than that of this bold enemy. Uniform, 
gay trappings, and kid gloves to our captain, pall upon 
the sight. The gallant third officer sighs for his mother 
and for but one square foot of her garden patch. But 
enough ! Too much ! Captain and third officer soon 
got on the bridge together, as a heavy fog loomed up 
and around us, making the passage extremely perilous, 
and the poor stricken passengers below trembled, as 
ever and anon they heard the shrill fog whistle shriek 
out the dismal warning of danger. The second day out, 
the sun was unbearable, the rays striking the flesh as if 
drawn by a powerful burning glass, so that all impru- 
dent enough to forsake the awning were soon red and 
swollen on hands, neck and face, so as to be hardly 
recognizable. It was the severest lesson of the kind I 
have ever experienced, but it saved me from the 
scorching heat of India and Arabia farther on, and 
possibly from fatal injury fromsun stroke. This day, 
and for days after, we were constantly welcomed by 
flying fish, dolphins and porpoises, but saw but very 
few vessels except schooners. 

On the third day we met a brig bound for Europe, 
and a horrible man-eater in her wake. From the 23d 
parallel north latitude to the same parallel south, 
nothing is more common than this species of shark, 
and many a time I have seen a native swim out from 
the shore, with a long, sharp instrument between his 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 13 

teeth, until he had attracted the attention of this savage 
monster, and then cunningly snatching the weapon, 
with a lightning-like thrust, pierce his hated victim 
until the water grew red with blood. Alas for the un- 
happy native if he miss his first aim ; a furious lashing 
of the water, a heartrending shriek, and both fish and 
man quickly disappear from sight. Yet in Japan I 
afterward saw the shark commonly exposed in the 
markets for sale for food. A clear case of love for 
your enemies. 

The fourth day out we sighted the Bermudas, lying 
low with an angry sea between. I was told that the 
Gulf Stream is ii8 to i6o miles wide in this latitude, 
and that our crossing was nearly at right angles, to 
save time and coal. 

When off St. Augustine, Florida, we met a West In- 
dia steamer bound for Xew York, both of us rolling and 
pitching about in a way more alarming than amusing, 
while I could hardly see out of my eyes, they were so 
swollen from sun burn. Yet I could see with joy the 
fierce white caps, and the black, threatening thunder 
clouds lying low upon the horizon. Nothing at sea is 
so grand, so instinct with supernatural power, as a 
tropical hurricane. Bending low, as for a caress, the 
dark wind clouds gently kiss the slumbering sea till it 
glances up and smiles, when with one fierce swoop 
they clasp the deep in their strong embrace, and madly 
struggle to bear it heavenward. 



14 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

Usually I arose before the sun, that no phenomena 
might escape me. I had reached the deck one bright 
morning, and on glancing toward the east, saw the sun 
just protruding above the horizon. The sea all around 
was glowing with w^arm color. Higher and higher rose 
the sun, gradually assuming the appearance of a golden 
balloon, until but a mere thread of gold held it to the 
sea. Then, with a snap, upward darted the golden 
mass, leaving a pool of burnished gold in its bed 
beneath. Since then I have watched, but Avatched in 
vain, for the beautiful awakening to be repeated. 

I have seen the heavenly bodies swing low at mid- 
night in Arabia and Egypt, and shower upon my head 
their flow of dazzling meteors, until I stood transfixed 
at the magnificence of the display. I have seen, after 
days of fierce tempests, the mighty deep rise in its aw- 
ful grandeur, until, darkly blue, it o'ertopped the masts 
and lolled upward in our track, so that it seemed that we 
must pierce its heaving mass or go to instant destruc- 
tion, while roll after roll of seething foam fiercely pur- 
sued us from behind. Such I have seen, but in all my 
travels they have failed to appear a second time, and it 
so fills the mind with a sense of awe, of the feebleness 
of man, of the power of nature^ that no single experi- 
ence can suffice to satisfy intelligent man ; but perhaps 
it is better to have but once beheld than not at all, once 
to have felt the glow of heart and mind expanding 
towards the infinite and omnipotent. 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. If) 

The sixth day out, while looking over the rail, I dis- 
covered the largest and most beautiful nautilus I ever 
saw. Those found in the Pacific are mostly small and 
colorless, but this had large pink and blue sails, and 
was as large as a lady's hat. Its long tentacles reached 
down out of sight. It was under full sail and quite 
along side. Large sea turtles were sleeping on the sur- 
face of the water, and masses of seaweed and driftwood, 
such as Columbus met in 1492, indicated that we were 
close to San Salvador. 

This in fact we reached in the afternoon. It was 
ominously still. No Indian to give us welcome. The 
Indian of Columbus is supplanted by the strong, lusty 
negro, who comes out with seashells, sponges, and a 
little fruit, and in passable English solicits your pat- 
ronage. The sponge, when first brought up from the 
deep, is as black as ink, but on being boiled and dried, 
it assumes the common light and yellow color of com- 
merce. There is nothing remarkable about the island 
in comparison with the many others of the Bahamas. 
All seem of coral formation, and at noonday each island 
glows like an emerald set in opal and sapphire. The 
green of the grass and foliage seems unnatural to a 
Northern man, and the rays of the sun turn the sur- 
rounding water, first into a yellowish border, then violet 
and greenish blue, down to the lively dark blue of deep 
water. To say that it is a heavenly scene is to describe 
it but faintly. The same beautiful panorama greeted 



1 G PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

me in the East Indies and afterwards in the Maldive 

islands in the Indian Ocean. 

By night of that day, we made the new revolving 
light erected April, 1887, by the English on Watling's 
Island, a little southeast of San Salvador, and by 
some claimed as the first land discovered by Columbus 
in 1492. The following forenoon. Bird Island and 
lighthouse loomed up before us, followed by Fortune 
Island with its salt pans, bright shore and cosy ve- 
randas and cottages. Long before our arrival, on my 
glass, the keeper, his wife, and all his neighbors dis- 
tinctly appeared around the base of the light, their 
dark figures and glistening eyes and teeth forming an 
amusing silhouette. 

Tall cocoanut palms, with storm-bent forms, grace- 
fully waved their plumed heads on high, while the 
cedar and mango trees tempted the sun-burnt traveller 
to seek their grateful shelter and rest. Conical huts 
of palm and thatch rose here and there, and, now^ and 
then, a blue or green villa with double veranda and 
varied awnings told of the presence of man. The 
glare of the noonday sun, and the opalescent hues of 
the shallow water, so combined the real with the canny 
that one had to pinch himself to be assured of wake- 
fulness. As at previous points, we could find no harbor 
on account of the size of our vessel, but a row-boat, 
manned by six stalwart darkies, each like an ebony 
statue, soon was seen approaching for the mail we 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 17 

had brought from the States, followed by dugouts of 
fruit, coral and sponges, paddled by the same colored 
beings, dressed, when dressed at all, in bright colored 
ribbons and strips of cotton cloth. 

After getting under way once more, we set our stay- 
sails to steady our now dangerously rolling vessel, 
and made for Cape Maysi, Cuba, passing Castle Island 
at eleven a. m of the same day, and leaving the mail, 
also leaving our own mail for the States. Here Capt. 
Kidd had his stronghold. Falling in with the trade 
winds,we made Baracoa and Cape Maysi the next day, 
where two steamers and several sailing vessels glad- 
dened our eyes. We were then but 1237 miles from 
New York. Our experience in this land of misrule 
and Miss Don Juans was but a repetition of that in the 
Bahamas — plenty of hot sun, sweet fruits, beautiful 
colors and comely natives. There is some beautiful 
scenery in Cuba, but it is feeble compared with that of 
the opposite island of Hayti, which we visited the next 
day, and sailed from early morning to eve almost be- 
neath the shadows of its lofty peaks and w^ooded 
slopes. Here at Port au Prince the natives, as well as 
the higher classes, make use of a sort of French lan- 
guage, while farther to the east of the same island the 
Spanish has equal adherents, so it is not an unusual 
experience to find a polyglot darky, whose importance 
and consciousness of the same somehow remind you 
of their uncultivated yet conspicuous wilds. These 



18 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

are the rendezvous of outlaw and slave, and seldom trod 
by foot of civilized man. Some of the ranges are, hov^- 
ever,cultivated to their very summits, and had the heat 
not gone beyond loo degrees, I would gladly have 
accepted an invitation to spend a month on shore, but 
my eyes were ever bent on the setting sun, so I bid adieu, 
and soon came to the only island owned by the United 
States or its citizens, in all this rich country. It is the 
island of Navassa, one of no great size, but of value. Its 
only commercial interest is its trade in guano. There 
were vessels loading under its high coast,but I passed it 
by with but a call, and gave myself up to the mild, deli- 
cious breezes of Jamaica. 

Have you felt the inspiration of a coming shower 
after a sultry summer's day ? Had you been with me, 
reclining at your ease and drinking in the spice-laden 
air that floated over the cooling water, permeating your 
clothing and stimulating your senses, however weary or 
ill in after-life, the memory would win a smile of peace- 
ful satisfaction that you once had really lived. 

But enough. Kingston is much like other places in 
the Indies, and needs no description. Its strong, 
finely formed men and bright, roguish children, all 
travelling to and fro with huge baskets or bundles on 
their brightly bedecked heads, are known to the world, 
so are its rare woods, its fruits and its fragrant spices \ 
so we will on once more, with sails all set and breezes 
free, strai2:ht across the Caribbean Sea. Roll, roll ! 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 19 

splash, splash! and before night the hurricane, pre- 
ceded by volley after volley of thunder, like a mighty 
hand down on your head, and simultaneous streaks and 
streams of lightning that fairly blind the eyes. One 
old sea captain comforted me with the story of one of 
his voyages here, when one of his men standing in my 
very position near the mainmast was suddenly struck 
down without a mark or scar to indicate the cause. 
" But," said he, " you need not move, as these masts are 
of iron, which are never struck." Although my views 
coincided, I no longer felt interested in standing by a 
mast in a storm. 

The Caribbean Sea is nothing in size compared with 
the Atlantic ocean, but it fills one with wonder that so 
much that is rascally and perilous can be forced upon 
one's defenceless head in such a little space. One 
clear, bright night, near Jamaica, in my study of the 
heavens, I came across that beautiful guide of the 
southern mariner, the Southern Cross. I have seen 
it often since, in its varied positions, but here, with 
the dipper and our polar star just disappearing in 
the north, its welcome gave unusual pleasure. From 
this time on constant surprises spring upon your atten- 
tion in the gem-studded sky, until you are forced to 
regard them, in setting and form, as superior to the 
northern constellations. It is a wonderful inspiration 
that comes to one on a clear, still, tropical night, with 
starry gems floating their varied colors above, and 



20 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXNY LAXDS, 

sparkling animalculae answering back from the dis- 
turbed sea below. Besides depth and brilliancy of 
color in both flora and fauna, the tropics also present 
greater grace and symmetry of form and deliciousness 
of perfume and flavor. It is the same at sea as on 
land. Even God's bow of promise holds the mind en- 
tranced. As it spontaneously broadens and brightens 
above the great sea, you in awe await the presence of 
the Most High. But such revelations are usually 
preceded by fierce gales and mighty upheavals of the 
deep, which prepare one as in no other way for the 
intense appreciation of the grand and beautiful. 

It was after such a struggle of the elements, when 
parallel streams of electricity poured down before us, 
and the thunder rent our ears with pain, that we sighted 
the South American coast — a trackless wilderness. With 
marine glass in hand, I waited hours for some sign of 
civilization, when, on sweeping the horizon, my eyes 
fastened upon the waving cocoanut palms and trim 
cottages of Colon, the mouth of the Chagres river and 
Lessep's Panama Canal between. It lay so low its 
distance was soon overcome, and by sunset we were 
alongside of the wharf and mingling with the strangest 
crowd it has been my lot to meet. Ladies in silk and 
lace walked through the muddy streets, with nothing 
but a fan for head covering, side by side with the 
native Indians as quaintly robed as Eve in the garden 
of Eden, followed by the native garrison, composed, I 



IN A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 21 

should say, of a patriarch and his children and grand- 
children, all dressed in the same sized uniform ; so 
that while the scantiness of the older suggested cool- 
ness and rents, the generous length and fulness of the 
younger kept him in an inglorious perspiration, mostly 
under the heels of his immediate comrades. 

Many of the scenes are far from humorous. Five 
deaths from the isthmus fever took place my first night j 
every little while two policemen shambled by, with a 
rough wooden box on their shoulders, with a companion 
bringing up the rear. A protruding arm or foot needed 
no explanation of the cause. No one is safe in the 
place. If it is not disease it may be evil human nature. 
Even the mosquito, that amusing little insect when in 
the North, becomes a perfect little fury here. You 
have not the heart to destroy, you know, even if your 
blows were as accurately as determinedly directed, so 
you gradually /^;?;?/d'r the little creatures until, to put it 
mildly, you begin to look like a baby with canker rash 
and scarlet fever. If there is an exception, it is that 
the child has no contusions or facial protuberances 
arising from misguided views that the face, with a few 
active mosquitoes, can be pummeled at will with impu- 
nity. Despite the pests, we saw the town, the long 
dugouts at the market filled with fish, turtles, cocoa- 
nuts, plantains, bananas, mangos and yams, also the 
long, broad frogs croaking in the middle of the 
streets, and as large as the spanking hand of a 



22 



PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 



modern school teacher, when seen through a misty 
veil of tears. 



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This place is also known as Aspinwall, after Capt. 
Aspinwall of New York, and is the northern terminus 
of both the Panama railroad and the canal, which the 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 23 

French have for years been trying to construct to unite 
the Atlantic and Pacific. This canal was one of my 
chief objects of interest here, as I wished to compare 
it with the Suez, constructed by the same persevering 
and enterprising Lesseps. Only about thirteen miles 
are navigable, but the ground is broken nearly the w^hole 
distance to Panama, its southern terminus, and is 
easily distinguished by long lines of reddish soil pecu- 
liar to this section, contrasting with the light green of 
the herbage on the surface. No one here believes in 
the possibility of its completion. Machinery to the 
amount of thousands of dollars, unadapted to the 
work, lies exposed to the severe climate — a total loss. 
The whole country has been built up, and, at the two 
Obispos, pretty dwellings adorn the hill sides. If locks 
were to be introduced it would look some encouragmg 
towards success, but to remove the mountains on the 
lower half to a level with the ocean will require more 
time and money than even the French national pride 
and energ}' will support. Lesseps had a comparatively 
easy task through the level sand plains of Eastern 
Eg}^pt, where the Bitter Lakes and ancient canal from 
Cairo to Suez only needed widening and deepening, 
but here, rock, mountain, river and swollen flood 
hamper him at every step. 

Silver is fifty per cent, premium here, and a small 
newspaper, printed by hand, in English. French and 
German, costs ten cents per copy. 



24 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

The French quarter lies close to the terminus of the 
Canal, and, besides its neat dwellings, contains a park 
with a monument to Columbus grouped with an Indian 
maiden. This gives the origin of its usual name — 
Colon. Admiral Nelson is said to have spent a large 
part of one year here, when pursued by Napoleon 
Bonaparte and the French fleet. 

One morning I took the Panama train en route for 
the Pacific coast, and rode from eight a. m. to early 
afternoon through the heart of the isthmus, of which 
we have heard so many fabulous tales from the early 
California miners. The orange and the jessamine were 
in full bloom. The cocoanut, mango, betelnut, banana 
and plantain grew in wild profusion on either side, and 
the bamboo and palm lent their thick jungle to enhance 
the view. Figuratively speaking, a dead body lies be- 
neath each tie of the line. Hundreds of lives were sacri- 
ficed to the fatal fever during the construction of the 
road, and $500,000 spent in one of its bridges over the 
Chagres river. Even to-day the ties are of lignum vitae, 
and cost from three to five dollars apiece. No other 
wood will withstand the climate. The Jamaica negro, 
the Chinaman, and the native Indian, manage to exist, 
but the latter alone appears to take comfort, and that 
possibly because social life is not too exacting, and his 
children can bask at will in the birth -given robes of 
nature, and can earn their living by merely an out- 
stretching of the hand. Numerous little and lean 




ON THE SOUTH BANK OF THE PANAMA CANAL. 



26 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LANDS, 

black hogs peer out of the bamboo huts. Contrasted 
with the children, they are quite neat and clean. This 
railroad was located by Col. Hughes and Totten of 
New York, and was incorporated at that place in 1849, 
but before completion the floods made such havoc that 
pretty much all of it had to be repaired. It was not 
possible to open it until 1855. Five thousand men and 
$7,500,000 were required. Vanderbilt at the same 
time opened his Xicaraguan route. 

When the discovery of gold in California was made, 
thousands from the East flocked thither, — some over- 
land, and thousands around perilous Cape Horn. 
Besides sailins^ vessels, there were a few steamers, such 
as the North America, which was seized by starving 
hundreds shipwrecked near Panama, and which was 
lost near shore, leaving her sick and discouraged pas- 
sengers on that inhospitable shore to die like sheep. 
Just as their last hope was expiring. I am told, the S.S. 
Lewis, from around the Horn, with assistance and pro- 
visions, hove in sight, and rescued them from total 
destruction. 

When the railroad 0}3ened, everything was changed. 
The long, perilous journey around the Horn v>as 
superseded by an easy and speedy trip by rail for 
about forty-nine miles through a tropical paradise. 
It is true the ship fever was less faial than the 
fever of the isthmus, yet the exposure was so slight 
that comparatively few died therefrom. It is equally 



IX A TOUR AKOUXD THE WORLD. 27 

true that many preferred to walk across to paying a fare 
of $50 to $75 then asked for what we now get for but 
S5. The usual steerage passage from San Francisco to 
New York in those days was §150, and often more, and 
there were often so many applicants for berths that 
$450 in gold were sometimes given for another's ticket. 
But to go on. While riding like Jehu, we saw an old 
Spanish castle and cathedral on our right, and a long 
line of pelicans disappearing over some water. Almost 
at the same time, Panama was announced. This place, 
with its orange tree streets and steep hills, is more 
strange than Aspinwall. Under advice of our physician, 
we spent only a day viewing its old curiosities and 
ruins, for the people were dying on ever}^ hand. \\^ 
went over to the large island owned by the Panama 
railroad, and aboard the U. S. man-of-war, until we 
could get a steamer for Callao. The southern terminus 
of the canal is just over the bluff north of Panama and 
opposite our Marine burial ground, called Dead Man's 
Island. The snow-clad Cordilleras of South America 
loomed up on our left, with the old ivy and shrub-man- 
tled cathedral in front. Lonsr lines of dreamv lookins; 
pelicans rose and fell on the air, never failing in their 
unerring dives into the smooth sea to bring up a 
coveted fish. From the officers of the man-of-war 
Juniata. I ascertained that King Kalakaua of the 
Sandwich Islands was besieged in his palace ; that 
Queen Kapiolani w^as fast hastening home from her 



28 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

tour in the States, and, although our navy department 
had ordered two of our men-of-war to immediately start 
for Honolulu, it was decidedly unwise to visit the place. 
So I reluctantly, and for the first and only time during 
my long journey, abandoned my plan of travel. 

I was within 7"^ of the equator, and knowing my 
course through Java and Sumatra would be below that 
circle, I determined to visit further South here ; so, 
bidding adieu to the peaceful quiet, the long line of 
Jamaica negroes lustily pulling the oar, and sending 
their happy chorus over land and sea, we stood out to 
sea once more. On our right was the island from 
which alone drinking water w^as obtainable ; on our 
left the rich, yet unproductive mountains of the United 
States of Columbia, while the fast-setting sun, with 
regal splendor, outlined our course ov^er the placid 
Pacific. What moral power is felt at sea ! The wak- 
ing day, the rosy, rising sun stirs the heart to hopes 
and life ; but at night its last lingering glance falls like 
a fond mother's gaze on her parting son. 

Callao, as is well known, is the port of Peru, and its 

capital, Lima, and presents quite an animated scene. 

The United States man-of-war Alert lay at anchor, 
ready for action. As on the Isthmus, Spanish is the 
common language, and the Chinese the common laborer 
and trader. Little girls and boys of native mothers and 
Chinese fathers are often seen, as lovely as the stars, but 
shockingly disfigured by shears and the razor as soon 
as a trip to the Flowery Kingdom is contemplated. 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 29 



CHAPTER III. 
Where Spanish galleons roved of old. 

TROM the time of Balboa to Magellan, doubt- 
less, the immense expanse of water between Asia and 
America no more deserved its well-earned reputation 
for quiet and peacefulness than now, though the latter 
discoverer claims to have promulgated this attribute 
by giving it the name of the Pacific. Pacific it 
is in fair weather, it is true, but let the typhoon 
rise in its might, or the Sierra Madre mountain 
wind tear along its surface, and you begin to regard 
the name as a capital piece of irony, or those old 
voyagers a deceiving set of scoundrels. At Panama 
the tide rises thirty feet, greatly in excess of the 
Caribbean Sea. at the other end of the Canal, and, 
although the French have been dredging for three 
years there is little to show for it ; another evidence is 
the many forlorn, stranded vessels vou meet everv- 
where on the coast up to San Francisco. The fact is, 
take the Pacific at any point in the same latitude with 
the Atlantic, and you will have to catch it if you are 
out. A few days later I set out for the Central Amer- 
ican states, through a sea like oil, huge sea turtles 
sleeping on the surface, and sea serpents winding their 



30 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

way among and over them, as on land. For days, as 
far as the eye could reach, if there was any departure 
from this thick fluid, it was but a gentle swell of pretty 
much the same appearance. What monotony ! What 
ennui ! 

But one noon, when it had been so hot that we all 
had hardly anything but a backbone left, away in the 
distance we discovered what appeared a large ship 
coming down upon us as in a mirage. The snow-wliite 
foam was leaping up from her cutwater, and lo ! a 
squall, wind, rain and hail poured in upon us from all 
directions. The awning over deck was snatched from 
over our heads with a boom like a cannon, and, in one 
short half hour, we were driven to overcoat and gloves. 
Dear, calm, old mother ocean, why practise the wily 
arts of a young woman ! I must not forget to state 
that the apparent vessel was a death-dealing water 
spout, which proved too far to starboard to cause our 
ruin. After we could look about, we saw with joy the 
City of Panama, one of the Pacific mail steamers, 
alongside, bound for Acapulco, Mexico, which we sig- 
nalled. She was a smaller and faster boat, and was far 
in advance by the next morning. When the elements 
rested on their arms we saw the high peaks of Costa 
Rica, the most southern of Central American republics, 
towering up on our right, and apparently ice streams 
running down their summits. Ice was $90 a ton on the 
Isthmus, and all along the coast to Southern California 



IiV A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 31 

it never fell below $40, while in most places it was $60, 
which I afterwards found to be the price in Singapore 
and the East Indies. 

The soil of Costa Rica is red, and contains rich de- 
posits of gold, silver and antimony, while on every 
hand miles of valuable timber greet the eye, down to 
the water's edge, primeval groves, trackless forests, 
and only 3500 miles from San Francisco, less than half 
that distance from Acapulco, which should be con- 
nected with Mexico City and the Mexican Central 
railroad just as soon as circumstances will allow. The 
sea became as wavy as in a shower, and Spanish 
mackerel and porpoise leaped up on every hand, fol- 
lowed by the ugly dorsal fin of the shark slowly 
cutting through the glassy surface. We here met two 
steamers and passed two. Turri Alba, 12,500 feet, and 
Chiriqui, 11,265 feet high, both volcanos, appear, with 
Los Votos, 9,800 feet above us all. In close company of 
an ideal thunder storm, we steamed into the pretty bay 
of Punta Arenas. It has a beautiful beach and roll- 
ing surf ; but this port, like all on the Pacific coast up to 
California, affords no wharfage for large steamers. All 
goods as well as passengers are conveyed to land in 
small boats or lighters. 

We found coffee, sugar, cocoa, sarsaparilla, oranges, 
bananas and other freight, awaiting us, and we took the 
opportunity to see the country. For three dollars we 
secured a native boat, and, after running into and carry- 



32 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

ing away the line of two young ladies too intent on 
fishing to notice that they had unwittingly become 
fishers of men, were rapidly rowed to a high iron pier. 
It had a covering of like material, the only thing that 
is safe from the sea-worms. We were soon out on the 
smooth beach, which was so free from rock, stone or 
pebble, as to seem ground in a mortar. It w^as the 
Sabbath, and an old, but silvery chime was ringing the 
devout Catholic to service. The prevailing language is 
Spanish, so I was not surprised to find the religion 
Catholic. In fact, all through Central America and 
Mexico, I found this to be true. We walked from the 
beach up to a wide avenue shaded with orange trees 
laden with fruit, by open houses, w^ith goods and fruit 
exposed for sale, — long strips of beef sun-dried and 
sold by the yard, side by side with Panama hats, selling 
from five to ninety dollars apiece ; sugar in large cakes 
as dark as its owner, cheese as white as the lace of the 
plump, half -dressed maidens gliding about, and flowers 
rivalling all else in their splendor and fragrance. But 
cost, do not speak of it ! It is the common impression 
that everything is given away in the tropics. If you 
have that impression still, stay at home, for, although 
one receives many a little tribute of unsophisticated 
nature from the people, the foreigner is generally re- 
garded as a bonanza. 

I need not stop to explain. A button hole bouquet 
costs fifty cents, my friend. Stay at home if you wish 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 33 

to travel and not pay dearly for it. Yes, stay at home. 
The houses are one-story, with tile roofs, and no chim- 
neys or glass windows. As in all the tropics, iron 
window bars serve to keep out the lawless. Long 
rows of cactus hedge separate the lots, and make an 
impenetrable barrier. Buzzards were on the house 
tops, in the streets and under foot, and to kick one 
of the ugly pests would call down the ire of the 
whole town, for thev are so necessary to the 
health of the country, so useful in destroying in- 
sect and reptile, they are become almost sacred. 
But ugh, the nasty birds ! 

Long lines of covered two-wheeled ox-carts toiled 
into the town, with hides, tallow, copper, sugar and 
fruit, each drawn by two or three yoke of cattle, the 
only beast of burden. There was, however, a short 
line of railway building, by Northern men, to expe- 
dite commerce, but so short as to be of no great 
importance. Monkeys and parrots filled your eyes 
with laughter and your ears with confusion ; and to 
step out into the woods was to make the acquaintance 
of the American leopard, bear and lion, the skins of 
w^hich hung exposed on every dwelling. It is unfair 
to pass by this place without speaking words of 
praise for the women, and yet, words but ill express 
either admiration or appreciation. 

The native Indian, and the mixed Spanish and 
native resemble the majority of Mexicans in dress, 



34 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

manners and personal appearance. The native is slim 
and graceful, the Mestiza plump, lovely and womanly, 
both of which classes, simply dressed in white, with 
ornaments of taste, impress one with a sense of gen- 
uineness that her Northern sister rarely can. It 
seemed to be but the outward manifestation of a pure, 
true soul, fresh from the hand of God, very like the 
beauty and fragrance of a flower ; and ever afterward 
I found in the tropics the same fragrant and sponta- 
neous purity of life, that put to shame higher civiliza- 
tion, and proved it selfish and cruel. The fare to San 
Francisco from here is $90 in gold. 

Reluctantly bidding adieu, we left the beautiful bay 
■with the sun, and steamed slowly into the Pacific. The 
next morning we were out of sight of land, and in the 
midst of Nature's celebration of thunder and lightning. 
The stars and stripes floating at the masthead received 
the ovation as peculiarly their own, for it was the glorious 
" Fourth of July.'' Before noon thirteen different 
nationalities were gleefully exploding fire crackers, tor- 
pedoes and jokes. After songs and games in the 
saloon, it was found that there was on board an Italian 
with a hand organ and little girl. After collecting ten 
dollars for a bribe, we prevailed on him to give an en- 
tertainment. The rigging was full of monkeys and pet 
birds, and we soon held such a carnival that would 
have dumbfounded the natives themselves. The organ 
proved treacherous, and from time to time would refuse 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 35 

to sing, though the ItaUan anxiously increased the 
speed of the crank, until it seemed impossible for the 
machine to hold together. A medical friend undertook 
to doctor it, but with as little success as on some of his 
patients, for, although none of the little painful stop- 
pages longer occurred, no sooner did it approach the 
end of a bar than it ran screeching up into a high 
falsetto, or a laughable zip, zip, zip, that frightened the 
monkey, saddened the girl, and quite dismayed the 
"Duke" himself. 

But it was a happy celebration in spite of the 
thoughts of far distant friends at home. The only oc- 
currence to mar the pleasure was the slaughter on deck 
of an ox, as was the custom and need once in two 
days. All large steamers on the mid-Pacific carry 
oxen, sheep, swine and poultry, to kill for fresh food. 
The noble animal was led out from its pen by a strong 
rope fastened to its horns and made fast to the wind- 
lass of the donkey engine, and when the butcher, with 
bare arms and head, had finished w^hetting his murder- 
ous blade, he gave the signal for the engine to start, 
and to gradually drag the poor beast to its knees. 
Lowing with fright, it sank down, scattering everything 
within reach in its furious struggles to escape. This 
had once happened on the voyage, to the injury of 
many and the loss of one life. Lower and lower sank 
the head, when, darting forward, the butcher thrust his 
knife straight down behind the horns, and with a loud 



36 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

groan, the mighty beast fell over dyed in gore. In a 
trice the hide was off the quivering flesh, and the body 
hanging to the halhards. 

How unhappy the thought that the Hfe of man 
depends on taking the Ufe of others ! We seldom 
think of the vegetable, but how rarely of the poor 
brute ! If you do this, can you blame the poor ship- 
wrecked mariner for thirsting for the blood and flesh 
of his weaker comrade ? Or is it a joy to the brute 
to die ! Not far from this is the modern fabric of 
society. Those who have no thought or fear of pun- 
ishment, drive rough shod over their suffering fellows, 
little thinking that might is not right, and that even 
on the morrow a day of reckoning may come. 

But to return. A large right whale came alongside 
and threw up torrents of water while blowings as if 
joining in our festivity. After our tea we disrobed pur 
gaily-dressed spars and rigging of their bunting and 
streamers, and made the upper air alive with Roman 
candles and sky rockets ; but, as if in sport, the mighty 
elements of wind and water swept down upon us, and 
furnished our startled eyes with so vivid and frightful 
a display of Nature's own pyrotechnics that we felt 
cheap and insignificant. 

The next day we dropped anchor off the town of 
Libertad in San Salvador, which lies low with high 
peaks of volcanic origin in the background, one of 
which, north of Dos Hermanos, is particularly attrac- 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 37 

tive both in height and outline. We found the capital 
of the republic twelve miles inland and of the same 
name, San Salvador. The national flag is not very un- 
like ours, as is the case with all these little republics. 
Indigo, an uncommon product in America, is largely- 
grown, and balsam is also an export. The place has 
its barracks, but no formidable soldiery. The president 
\yas once obliged to come aboard and stay till an 
insurrection had been quelled. The surf is high and 
grand, the coast resembling that of Nantasket. 

While viewing the background the first morning, my 
glass nearly fell from my hands as I saw in the distance 
the long-desired flash and puff of a living volcano. It 
sent up a long coil of smoke every fifteen minutes 
by my watch, which rose and disappeared, only to 
be followed by another and another. I had watched 
Vesuvius and other smaller elevations, but they had 
refused all entreaty or threats to exhibit ; so to see, 
after many years, this clock-work regularity of volcanic 
action, was as novel and unexpected as it was grand. I 
saw further North, and in Japan, fully as interesting 
exhibits of power and grandeur, however. The 
steamer South Carolina, once used in the Rebellion, I 
believe, as a war vessel, steamed up, around, and away 
again without stopping. There came two-wheeled cov- 
ered carts, drawn by yokes of patient oxen, slowly 
rolling down the trail to the town. Here, as in South- 



38 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

ern Asia, sticks or pieces of bamboo are used in 
place of figures for counting. 

After finding nothing new in the people, we set sail 
again for Acajutla, also in San Salvador. The coast is 
unlike that South, being low lying instead of ranges of 
steep hills or mountains, although high peaks loom up 
in the far distant interior. The volcano Izalcho was 
constantly in sight. There is a fine sandy beach and 
prettily curving bay. We found, also, interesting relics 
of green stone, and an old ruin on the plain outside of 
the town. We frequently, on our journey, found what 
appeared to be Aztec ruins — arches, columns, altars, 
and little stone images, but got no satisfactory account 
of their origin. The houses resemble those in Southern 
United States, and look more inviting than at any 
point yet reached. 

From Acajutla we set sail for San Jose, Guatemala, 
which surpasses even Naples in the beauty of its bay 
and surrounding peaks. Long lines of surf were roll- 
ing in upon a wide, smooth beach, filling the ear with 
nature's choicest music. Birds of brilliant plumage 
flitted through the thick foliage, and were it not for the 
few dwellings and storehouses near the wharves, the 
scene would have been of primaeval grandeur and 
simplicity. Several of the dwellings were two-storied, 
each story having its cool veranda. Away back in the 
distance rose two clearly cut peaks hiding their heads 
in the clouds, and further south, forming a symmetrical 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 39 

vallev, rose another conical 2:iant, so beautiful in its 
proportions and outline, I recall, in all my trip, no 
riv.al, except perhaps, Fusiyama in Eastern Japan. 
One of the pair of mountains is the volcano De Fuego, 
which, some years ago, suddenly broke out and de- 
stroyed Antigua, the old capital at its foot. 

The new capital is on a plain some twenty miles 
inland, which we found connected by rail, so we were 
spared the fatigue of a ride in the saddle. Like all 
things of beauty and attractiveness, its superiority is 
offset by insuperable difficulties to pleasant enjoyment. 
Earthquakes, as well as volcanic eruptions, keep the 
Republic in a state of chronic uneasiness. Mould and 
decay attack and destroy leather and cloth in a most 
discouraging manner, and the centipede and scorpion 
are frequent, although unbidden, guests. Xor is it pleas- 
ant to have one side of your face in the possession of 
a gigantic tarantula. Yet the rare birds, species of 
wood and timber, not to omit the fertility of the soil, 
in part compensate for these dangers and discomforts, 
and farni houses are jzoing up everywhere, and modern 
machinerv comins; fast into use. Suo:ar, coffee, and 
timber are the chief exports. For forty miles the tine 
beach extends northward, giving the native a natural 
and easy road to the seaport. Although one misses a 
high degree of intelligence in the people, fair mechan- 
ical skill is disclosed in their artistic pottery. 

In mv rambles throuo^h the countrv. two strano-e but 



40 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

interesting sights surprised me, — one away from the 
haunts of man, the other under his full protection. In 
a thicket seldom visited, except by reptiles and wild 
beasts, I one day met the rare and beautiful national 
bird of the Republic. It is so shy that the eye of man 
rarely catches but a glimpse. There it perched, in 
its black, green and gold, with a body and beak like a 
parrot, and three long feathers floathig down with all 
the colors of the rainbow to the extent of from three 
to four feet. The other experience was far from wild 
woods and in a place of safety, and although I had 
often observed a murderous-looking knife and a brace 
of revolvers decorating the waist of the people, I 
started when, one morning, I was accosted in Spanish 
by a soft feminine voice, and beheld a lovely, dark- 
eyed maiden, with rich olive complexion and long silk 
eyelashes, standing like a picture straight from the can- 
vas, close at my side. A simple string of white pearls 
clasped her throat, relieved by her pure complexion on 
one side and a border of rare lace on the other, her 
slight, graceful form enveloped in a robe of fleecy 
texture and whiteness. She almost took my breath 
away. As with the macaw in the thicket, my first im- 
pression was of beauty, but a second glance revealed a 
revolver nestling amid the lace of her belt, and from 
her graceful shoulders a carbine hanging, a book of 
poems and a nosegay in her hand, and all sense of loveli- 
ness suddenly changed to wonder. 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. \\ 

As nothing is farther from my object than to be sen- 
sational, I omit my personal experiences, and also the 
private history of those I meet. I merely note this 
peculiar experience as being not so very uncommon in 
countries of so unstable a government as Guatemala 
and other places in its neighborhood. This isolated, 
refined woman, transformed by force of necessity into 
an Amazon, possessed a firm little chin indicative of 
adequate abilitv' to protect others also. In fact, I 
might give several pointed illustrations of this. 

At last, I took steamer for Champerico, Guatemala, 
but on account of the high surf, rolling and pitching 
us about, we were obliged to wait amid its hollow roar 
and sublime beauty until the next morning before we 
could get out of the bay. Champerico boasts of one 
large two-story house with a cupola, a sight I had not 
seen for weeks if not months, a wharf, and a few well- 
constructed houses in its neighborhood, with a group 
of native thatched huts in the distance. Five high 
peaks are in full view, one inland, that of an active 
volcano. Mile after mile of wide, sandv beach stretches 
out before one with heavy growth of timber on its 
upper border. Both rice and the cocoanut palm would 
flourish, and yield large returns on such soil as is 
found here. 

Our vessel rode so high that, in disembarking, use 
had to be made of a saloon chair, raised and lowered 
by the donkey engine. The sensation of spinning 



42 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

around was far from pleasant, to say nothing of rising 
high in the air, swinging out over the water in oscilla- 
tion like an unsteady pendulum, and then descending 
with forty million jerks, each enough to send your 
heart into your mouth. Some native women, half 
Indian and half Spanish, left us here, much to my regret, 
as in my leisure moments I never tired of studying 
them. Northern Guatemala differs very little from the 
Southern. Sixteen hundred bags of coffee and sugar 
were carried aboard the vessel for the North, but I 
found a great want of capital and need of modern 
machinery everywhere. 

When ready, I left for Acapulco, the oldest Western 
port in Mexico, 480 miles distant. The time may 
come when a line of railway may run the entire length 
of the Pacific Coast, but at the time I am writing, rail- 
roads are almost entirely unknown. Not even is 
Acapulco connected with the capital of Mexico, and 
eight days of steady riding is required for that jour- 
ney. Travel by water gives its own peculiar pleasure, 
however, and in the warm season is in every wa/ pref- 
erable. The steamer was a miniature forest. Mon- 
keys swung from the rigging on every side, parrots 
laughed and scolded from nook and corner, and squir- 
rels leaped and chattered from morning till night. 
Monkeys are bought for $3 apiece, parrots from $5 to 
$8, and squirrels, amadillos and other animals, from 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 43 

fifty cents upward. The squirrel resembles the grey 
of the North, but differs in being of a brown color. 

Groups of thatched huts were distinguished, now 
and then, along the coast, indicative of a denser popu- 
lation than below. The Pacific at once assumed its 
glassy and viscous appearance, and at night fifty large 
sea turtles, at one time, appeared basking upon its 
surface. As darkness set in we seemed to be plough- 
ing through molten silver, so wide did the disturbed 
w^ater throw up its sparkling phosphorescence. It was 
sultry even on deck, and Xve remained up drinking in 
the calm still night and the brilliant scintillations 
both of sea and sky, when suddenly out of the ominous 
stillness, from the Northeast, no larger than a man's 
hand sprang a halo. Down upon our weary heads 
burst a cold, icy wind that struck to the marrow. Up 
and down, in and out, it raged, tearing away our awn- 
ings, snapping out stays and bombarding our vessel 
with gigantic waves, till all thought or desire of sleep 
quite vanished. 

Now sitting up on her stern, like a water fowl flap- 
ping her wings, and now lying sheer over on her side, 
as if to take a complete roll, our gallant vessel wrestled 
with the now thoroughly enraged deep. I knew now 
we had reached the Gulf of Tehauntepec. iVll the 
following day it continued, but with some abatement. 
I had never had so rough an experience but once — that 



44 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

was when within two days' sail of Queenstown, while 
going abroad for study, just after leaving college. 
But that was the Atlantic. It had not the power to 
deceive. What a commentary on the appropriateness 
of the term Pacific ! Yet let me say that I enjoyed 
those two days and nights, in their freedom from mon- 
otony, from heat and from laziness, more than any on 
the coast. We soon came in sight of the distant 
Sierra Madre del Sud, an unbroken, ragged chain of 
mountains in Southwestern Mexico, which seemed to 
never leave us until we reached port, and to come 
down to the very coast with its high border of rock. 
The sea became like oil again. 

We stood off a pretty little harbor with thatched 
roofs peering up now and then, and near an island 
with a light house on our port. Not far distant an- 
other island rose, on which, with my glass, an old 
Spanish fort was discernible. Other islands running 
up to sharp peaks appeared scattered along until we 
suddenly dropped anchor before a low coast, with bar- 
ren hills on the north and high mountains in the dis- 
tance. Away in the distance I descried pahns, 
bananas and large lime trees shading a paved way to 
an old stone fort. I could see soldiers pacing up and 
down, though both fort and guard looked as though it 
had seen no mortal since the time of Noah. The hull 
of the old Moses Taylor, of fragrant memory to old 
forty-niners, lay like the skeleton of a camel in a desert, 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 45 

high on the beach. It is now passed by with but a 
glance, yet what joy, what sadness, what conflict 
within and without, what despair has met the human 
soul on that old vessel ! Not far distant the Alaska, 
of the Pacific mail, also lies abandoned. Near, the San 
Jose is loading. Noble cocoanut palms loom up 
everywhere down to the water's edge. Securing a 
native boat we were rowed ashore, and guided up the 
half paved way to the entrance of the fort, stopping only 
to speak with the little children and women coming from 
their adobe houses by the wayside, and finding an 
officer on duty, received a polite invitation to enter. 

Over a well at the western side, a well so ancient 
and odd looking, that one would be forgiven did he 
imagine that Rebecca must have once sat here, is a 
large tablet in the wall, on which I, after a long study, 
made out the figures I608 cut therein, but so worn by 
the weather as to be hardly legible. The whole struc- 
ture is brown, and crumbling with age, has an old- 
fashioned moat and long slits in the walls for arrow 
or rifle. A mere handful of men, hardly a full company, 
garrisoned it, but they might in one week fall an easy 
prey to as many of their mosquitoes. They were 
short, slim and weak, something like Uncle Sam's 
regulars on the frontier. The officer wore a green 
plume on his wide-brimmed hat, but nothing else, ex- 
cept his sword, distinguished him from his comrades. 
However, his graciousness is to be commended. 



46 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

Out over the town we went, cocoanuts, bananas, 
aligalor pears and flowers everywhere. Neat little 
houses of white and blue, disclosing at a glance the 
whole interior with hammock and brass bedsteads, 
and quiet, cool courts in the rear, full of bright birds, 
vines and flowers, lined the neat but narrow streets. 
Children, surprised by our advance, ran swiftly away, 
while man, w^oman and child flocked to their doorways 
and iron-latticed window openings, to watch our every 
movement. For some distance up the steep hill on the 
north are built stone basins, so that the water from 
above runs from one to another until all are full. All 
have to go there for drinking, washing and cooking 
purposes, and lucky is the lad that, too lazy to dip out 
the fluid and perform his laundry work in his own 
proper vessel, completes his toil — and his toilet at the 
same time — and escapes out of said wells without dis- 
covery. But woe appeareth on the face of the next 
comer. 

At the foot of the lowest of these stone wells w^e 
came upon a party of boys lazily at work in the hot 
sun, dressing swine. Many a poor little black porker 
lay flat on its side, with its hair partly removed, and 
left to spoil in the sun, while the youngsters splashed 
about in the drinking water above. We were thirsty 
and tired. Some stepped forv/ard. and took up the 
ladle for a draught. Their hands fell spasmodically to 
their side. They stared around as if in search of a 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 47 

gun. Women offered us fruit and flowers plucked be- 
fore our eyes. Next to the flowers, in beauty and 
fragrance, came the women and children, but for fear 
that my object may be misconstrued, I will not descant 
upon their many charms. 

Up across the ancient plaza, with its old well and rare 
trees, we entered the old cathedral, over the doors of 
which is inscribed a text in Latin. We were received 
by the swell of a distant organ and the voices of the 
choir softly chanting vespers. Little <:irls with strings 
of pretty white shell necklaces besought us to buy, 
and choir boys approached to solicit alms for the 
church. In the rear is an old vine-mantled bell- 
tower which speaks of the early Spanish. 

For many a year those old Spanish buccaneers and 
adventurers sailed up to this port on their w^ay to and 
from Mexico, and my curiosity was excited to see the 
old trail used from time immemorial over this course. 
Has my reader ever seen a burro ? Does he know 
whether he walks on his feet or hops on his head ? If 
he does, he knows more than I could learn in this 
wild, forsaken country. My companion was some six 
and a half feet in height, and wore a hat that had a 
rim that threw Aunt Keziah's gingham umbrella quite 
into the shade. Mounted on one of those eccentric 
little quadrupeds, wdth his feet drawn up to prevent 
their dragging on the rough ground, a knife and a 
brace of old-fashioned pistols sticking up from his 



48 PLEAS A XT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

narrow waist, and his sombrero lamely flapping in 
the breeze, he looked with surprise that I should see 
anything comical in our situation or appearance. 

Ah, well, those were halcyon days, and I will not spoil 
any reader's chances of sport or revelation by disclos- 
ing the possibilities of a personal experience. I will 
say, however, that we saw the trail — and much of the 
surrounding ground. If Dickey interrupted an earnest 
conversation by wickedly assuming a perpendicular, or 
broke in upon our ecstatic contemplation of a distant 
landscape, with a startling roar and sudden activity of 
hind heels, it was nothing amusing ; of course not. 
Only a bare fact — and often a bare head and elbow. 
The treasured rosewood cane, with which I had been 
presented by a planter in Guatemala, stood me in good 
use, as a gentle reminder to the vixen, that I, and not 
he, was to be the rider. 

I used to read with wonder how the angel of the 
Lord met Balaam on the highway, seated upon some 
such a steed as this, and how the beast spoke right 
out. I feel convinced that poor Balaam's experience 
w^as, more than once, my own, except there was no 
vision from heaven to declare to my bewildered mind 
w^hether the braying beast was really talking or sinking. 

On the return down the mountains to the town, the 
view was grand beyond description. The quiet hour 
of evening, the sinking sun, and the flood of silvery 
music from the chimes below, will never be forgotten. 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 49 

The castle of San Diego, the land-locked harbor, with 
its shipping like huge birds upon its quiet surface, rise 
in memory like a dream. 

Acapulco was the great depot for Spain in her early 
commerce with Manilla and the East Indies. Once a year 
a galleon set out for that place, and one returned. On 
its arrival here, a great fair was held, attended by mer- 
chants from all parts of Mexico. Since that time it 
has been overthrown by numerous earthquakes, but it 
still is one of the important seaports of Mexico, and 
exports vanilla, cocoa, indigo, cochineal, wool, and 
hides, and exceeds 5,000 in population. Its connection 
with the overthrow and capture of the unhappy Maxi- 
milian is too well known to repeat. The food is the 
same as in use throughout Mexico : tortillas made of 
grain, ground by the women between stone rolling-pin 
and tablet, eggs, frijoles, and fruit. The people are 
not so neat. as desirable, yet the middle and upper 
classes compare favorably with New Englanders, both 
in personal appearance and courtesy towards strangers. 
The natives, in rude dugouts, surrounded our steamer, 
and patiently awaited our patronage for such fruits 
and merchandise as they exposed for sale. The least 
misstep or haste with the paddle sent them, goods and 
all, deep into the water. Xo such scene as Bret Karte 
describes now presents itself to the eye: 

" In sixteen hundred and forty-one, 
The regular yearly galleon, 



50 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

Laden with odorous gums and spice, 
India cotton and India rice. 
And the richest silks of far Cathay, 
Was due at Acapulco Bay." 

Needins: fresh meat, we took on board half a dozen 
bullocks, by fastening a rope about the horns and run- 
nino^ it over the vard-arm and attachino; it to the drum 
of the donkey-engine. Slowly starts the engine, tight- 
ening the rope and gradually raising the animal's head 
and forequarters. It soon stands on hind tiptoe, then 
off swings the helpless beast into mid-air. Not a 
groan, not a struggle, and when carried high aloft and 
gently let down to deck, no sign of life, except a weak 
struggle to rise. I wondered at this. The next day, 
when out on the broad ocean again, I accidentally 
found out the cause of all this want of animal vigor. 
Right before me and the sun, hung the huge dressed car- 
cass of one of these poor brutes. I could see nothing 
but bones and a thin skin — call it tiesh if you will — red 
and transparent uniting the same. In fact, the animals 
were cactus fed, and those of you who have wandered 
over many a weary mile of parched country and found 
nothing but thistles can appreciate the situation. 

Without recounting other Mexican experiences and 
places, I will merely mention the port of Mazatlan, 
w^hich is, on account of the mines, now a strong rival 
to Acapulco. After encountering a school of black- 
hsh, and steering clear of a water-spout, we ran into a 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 51 

frightful thunder and lightning storm, which, however, 
left us unharmed, and the sea as smooth as glass. It 
was on the first day out that I read in the Mexican 
newspapers that the Panama Canal Company had at 
last succumbed to the inevitable. I need not say now 
that the news was incorrect, but every one on board 
believed it, so little faith had they that the French 
would succeed. The second day we nearly sank under 
another water-spout, but reached Manzanillo, which 
will soon he connected, it is hoped, by rail with all the 
large cities and towns in the centre of Mexico. 

But to go on. I soon saw the volcano of Colima. 
The coast is dotted with fine, large islands of white 
rock. We passed Cape Corrientes at 3 P. M. that day, 
but at once stood out to sea again, with cloudy sky and 
pleasant but cool breeze. The sea at night was 
resplendent with scintillation, rivalling the milky way 
in splendor. Same day, passed Las Tres Morias, 
We were then on line with the Sandwich Islands. At 
night caught sight of the high telegraph station an- 
nouncing our arrival at Mazatlan. High, abrupt 
precipices rose all around. 

With full speed we turned into the channel, and 
gracefully curved up to a high rock as if to pierce it, 
and quickly cast anchor, bringing us up into close 
quarters with cacti and wild flowers on its bank. We 
must have been three miles from the town, but with 
the glass I discovered the high chimney of a mill, a 



52 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUNNY LANDS, 

garrison house, a pretty fortification, a corso, and an 
immense cathedral. At 9 P. i\I. the quarantine officer 
came aboard and put us to a rigid examination. The 
following morning we found that we had anchored 
right beneath the lighthouse, which is built like an old 
Moorish castle. The harbor was full of peaked 
islands. We sent on shore large quantities of mining 
machinery, some Alexandrian Turks, a Spanish gen- 
tleman from Santander, Spain, and took on two New 
England men. 

The place had more shipping than Acapulco. Taking 
a boat, after a row of three or four miles, we were 
landed on the low coast and left to go where we 
pleased. The cathedral has been building for years, 
and is still unfinished. Northern men have established 
a match factory here, and one for making ice. The 
owner told me that his match business was a success, 
but that his ice machine, duty and all, had cost him 
§8,000. but, although he had large contracts for this 
delicacy, his machine, as at that very time, would get 
out of order and necessitate a trip of hundreds of 
miles to San Francisco to obtain the needed repairs. 
I also found a cotton mill and machine shop in full 
operation. It has a corso for bull fighting, a sport 
from which I kept away in disgust, although the horses 
and bulls engaged, it seemed to me, had not the 
strength to stand up before the blast of a pair of 
bellows. 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 53 

What interested me, next to the people, was the 
specie, ore, and ingots of soUd silver, constantly going 
aboard the steamer for San Francisco. The specie, 
in the form of Mexican dollars for China, was shipped 
in wooden casks,' which were rolled up and down the 
deck of the small shore boat like kegs of nails. I 
doubt the natives knew the nature of their precious 
freight, for while the sea was sending both vessels up 
and down, away went one of the casks, worth from 
$1300 to $2000, and before it could be stopped, splash- 
dash into the sea. I was told, later, that the divers 
sent in search returned the report that no trace of it 
could be found. At the same time I was led to under- 
stand that, as soon as we had got under way, some fine 
night those very divers would go straight to the lucky 
spot, and ever after be a wonder to their countrymen 
and a source of envy to their neighbors in their display 
of horse trappings and denaro. It is difficult to de- 
scribe the inordinate pride a Mexican takes in rigging 
out both himself and steed in solid silver and fringe. 
Hundreds of pesos are often squandered in this way, 
and paraded before a gaping crowd by many a vain 
and worthless caballero. 

The ore is mostly shipped in wooden boxes, but 
sometimes in bags. It is a strange sight, but common 
if you ride out a hundred miles, to see a line of pack 
mules, in single file or in pairs, slowly plodding along 
a trail, a few soldiers on guard, and three large silver 



54 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

bricks, 12x6x6 inches, bulging out from side and back 
of the patient beast, which toils, now up, now down, 
the rocky steeps. It has no thought or knowledge of 
the preciousness of its burden or the danger its ex- 
posed and tempting appearance invites from the bold 
outlaw infesting the woods and ravines along its 
unprotected pathw^ay. Mazatlan has always been cel- 
ebrated for its black pearls, mineral wealth, not to say 
for its pirates and outlaws, but good government has 
of late much changed the place. 

These bricks of solid silver were brought on board 
without a shadow of protection or covering, and depos- 
ited on the open deck under the feet of all. They 
resembled babbitt-metal or solder, according to the 
refinement, but it did not surprise me. The mind 
becomes so accustomed in the tropics, to gold, silver, 
precious stones, and all that is beautiful and fragrant, 
it would enter heaven here with such complacency as 
to astonish its Maker. Thirty-seven years has His 
house, the cathedral, been building, and is still 
unfinished. 

When I boarded my steamer for San Francisco, I 
found fifteen different nationalities represented by its 
passengers. In conversation with the owner of the 
ice machine, before mentioned, he stated that he 
usually made two tons of ice daily, and sold it for $50 
per ton, and that a mere hole in the piping, allowing 
the ether to escape, had not only prevented him from 



I.Y A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 55 

keeping his contract to supply steamers then in port, 
but had obliged him and his brother to take a three 
weeks' journey for repairs. 

Soon after leaving the coast, when near Cape St. Lu- 
cas, the temperature fell again. It served, however, to 
relieve the parched, hot sands of lower California and 
its reddish hills. At the Cape is a pretty little arch 
and cave, with the billows rolling, up and through, 
almost too inviting to pass by. North of it are miles 
of smooth, yellow sand, which appeared to be flowing 
down to the water's edge, giving the appearance of 
drifting snow. Passed Cape Tosco, with high peaks, 
followed by Margarita Island and Cape Lazaro. It 
still continued cold. Margarita Island, and Magda- 
lena Bay, is where so many colonists died like sheep 
for want of water. It was here that Vanderbilt's 
S.S. Independence went to the bottom, wrecked by a 
sunken rock. Thousands of acres are in the posses- 
sion of a San Francisco gentleman, who gathers its 
orchilla moss for purple dye. Water, in small quan- 
tities only, can be found, but even amid the hundreds 
of miles of barren sand hills and slopes, the native 
Indian, by instinct, will often point out a refreshing 
supply by merely scooping up the sand. 

While speaking of the mining trains, I forgot to 
state that the average load allowed by the owner of a 
mule is about 300 pounds, for a burro 200, and that 
silver ingots usually weigh from 90 to 150 pounds 



56 PLEASAXT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

apiece, so these are usually strapped to the pack- 
saddle, and although the load looks light and attractive, 
it really forms no small burden in this mountainous, 
country. Taking into consideration that in many cases 
the government guard is made up of convicts, and that 
the government, not the convict, gets the pesos, it is 
not difficult to see the peculiar unhappiness and risk 
of the whole business. 

The duties, too, are as great a source of loss and 
annovance A vouno^ man I met in the mines told me 
that he bought a saddle in San Francisco for $40, and 
when he brought it ashore, at Mazatlan he was obliged 
to pav a like sum for dutv. Machinerv is treated in 
the same way, and the diamond drill, and other 
improved machinery, is now considered indispensable 
to keep in advance of the native miners. 

Now that I am leaving the unfrequented tropical 
countries, I would like to say something about their 
strange fruits and flowers, but it is so difficult to convey 
the sense of flavor or loveliness, I shall leave the subject 
to oblivion. The orange, banana, pine apple, cocoanut 
and sweet potato are common, in one form or another, 
to all; but the lime, tamarind, vanilla, cocoa, betel nut, 
yam, plantain, mango, guava, mammee and papaw apple, 
alligator pear, and many others, are to most of you unseen, 
if not quite unknown. There is a variety of banana 
called the fig banana which is also never seen North, 
but all these are as common here as the apple is at 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 57 

home. July i6, my diary states, was as cold as Green- 
land, though flying fish and the large bird called the 
booby were thick about us, and often overshot their 
mark and landed on deck, and soon became the prey of 
passenger and crew. 

Black Warrior Lagoon, with the hills of Northern 
Lower California in full view, where seal fishing is car- 
ried on for oil, and the orchilla moss is gathered for 
dye, next appeared. Cedros Island, with the first 
trees we had seen for days, towering up here and there, 
and ravine-marked and gullied surface hardly fit for the 
wild goats we found thereon^ followed. Acres of sea weed 
lay between island and coast, flashing up its varied color 
from its low ocean bed, many being fifteen and twenty 
feet in length and of rankest growth. Large islands 
covered with boobies, pelicans and ducks were in full 
view, revealing rich deposits of guano. Cedros Island 
contains the only fresh water for hundreds of miles, 
and a whaler lay alongside for a supply. Its shore 
presented a sad spectacle in rude wooden monuments 
placed over graves of seaman and whaler, either a 
victim of disease or anger of the mighty whale which 
swarms here to breed. 

If there is anything attractive about the spot, next 
to whales and seals, it is seals and whales. Up pops 
the narrow head of a seal. Down flaps the frightful 
fluke of a whale. You like to see the monster of the 
deep afar off forcing up its cascades of foam, but the 



58 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

moment he begins to lash the surface in the majesty of 
his power, and protection of its young, then, somehow, 
you feel a strong preference for a seal, or wild goat, or 
even the land. 

It was as cool as November in New England. The 
assistant rector of Trinity Church, New York, preached 
for us in the saloon the day before, and the cool tem- 
perature seemed to have awakened him from his cus- 
tomary inaction. We made San Diego, the oldest settle- 
ment in California, now soon to be the entry port of 
all the Speckels vessels from the Sandwich Islands. 
This may prove as great a rival to San Francisco in 
the South as, Victoria with its Canadian Pacific R. R., 
is in the North. It wdll receive the mails as w^ell. 
Thousands of nautili, or Portuguese men-of-war, floated 
about our vessel, and acres of the yellowish white 
substance, known to seafaring men as whale food, 
stretched out before us, and we made Anaheim, Monica 
and Los Angeles. A three-masted schooner ran across 
our wake, the first sailing vessel in motion we had met 
for weeks. Passed between Santa Cruz and Santa 
Rosa at sun-down, in water 2,500 feet deep, and made 
Santa Barbara. 

We soon saw Point Conception Light. The temper- 
ature was almost at the freezing point. The whole 
appearance of land and sea had changed, and, in spite 
of the cold, I was amused to hear one after another 
exclaim, " Thank heaven, we are in God's country 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 59 

again at last ! " With the exception of two cattle 
ranches below San Diego, we had seen for days no sign 
of civilization, and when we now caught sight of Pedro 
Blanco Light, and ranches of wheat, alfalfa and cattle 
on the slopes of the Coast Range beyond, our joy 
knew no bounds. Off Monterey we discovered a new 
light-house going up. There is an old Spanish mis- 
sion here of quaint and simple style, and many fine 
dwellings about a beautiful bay. Seals came in sight 
again, either elevating their peaked heads above the 
sea or sleeping quietly on the beach. 

We had then reached the boisterous billows again, 
and soon were laboring through the rough current 
and sea of the Golden Horn with its bristling forts 
and earth-works to Telegraph Hill, and on to our dock. 
This was the first dock we had used for weeks, either 
on account of their absence or the shallowness of the 
harbor waters South. But what a sight met our eyes ! 
In Eastern United States, July and hot weather are in- 
separable. In the same latitude East and for hundreds 
of miles North, people were sweltering in the heat, and 
longing for ice cream and lemonade, but here on the 
dock a young lady stood energetically waving a disen- 
gaged hand, and muffled from top to toe in sealskin. 
Her male companion, quietly puffing at a cigar, is as 
thoroughly encased in fur cap and ulster. 

We felt a cool breeze creeping to our marrow. We 
were little prepared for landing in Washington and 



60 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

finding a Greenland. Here it was, however. Not a 
soul but what wore heavy winter clothing, and we but 
six days from a climate where it would have been bur- 
densome to bear even a fig-leaf ! This then was the 
much praised California climate ! ^' But you will like it 
after you have spent a few days, and you can wear the 
same clothing the year round " they said. Bah ! Ugh ! 
Cliff House, park and seals, Chinatown, the Palace 
and other large hotels, were seen, few invitations out 
from my friends accepted, and then I left for Yosemite 
Valley and the Geysers, in wonder that so many poor 
wretches were living under the impression that they 
enjoyed an unusually fine climate. 

To be just, I found upon reaching Oakland, six 
miles southeast, that San Francisco was alone in its 
execrable summer climate. During the remainder of my 
Californian trip the weather was as soft and mild, and 
the sky as clear as in Italy, and beyond anything I 
had experienced at home in New England. The Sac- 
ramento River, however, is a dirty, shallow stream with 
no public crossing until you reach South Vallejo, where 
a small steamer with petroleum engines — since de- 
stroyed by explosion — takes you over to the town. 
Mares Island is the United States Navy Yard and 
Hospital. Here I saw once more Farragut's old flag- 
ship, the Hartford. Napa, the home of Eustes, and 
the seat of one of the finest and largest insane hos- 
pitals in the world; Helena, surrounded by hundreds 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 61 

of acres of vine and fruit orchards; Cloverdale, with its 
petrified forests, were in turn visited, and other places 
in Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties, the Bradford and 
Johnson mines, St. Helena volcano, and through the 
vast Sonoma Valley, where reaping machines propelled 
by eight strong horses were gathering and stacking the 
heavy wheat, with a precision and ease perfectly won- 
derful. 

From valley to foot-hills on the very summit of the 
Coast Range, the vine has supplanted the pine and 
cedar, and strong, costly granite store houses meet 
one on every hand, and often built directly out into 
the road you are travelling. Up, up, up, as fast as 
brute strength and speed can carry you, and faster 
than is either safe or agreeable, you go, until your 
weary team are, from sheer exhaustion, forced to a 
walk. Then, perchance, down again through a little 
valley on a wild and dangerous gallop, which brings 
a wicked gleam into the eyes of the driver as he casts 
a furtive glance youward to see if it makes its due and 
desired impression, until off goes his hat, and, in 
clouds of dust and over -heated air, you, with a little 
pardonable malice, w^atch him striding back for its re- 
covery. The driver was of Spanish birth, who, when 
young, ran away from his home in the Sandwich 
Islands, because his mother desired him to accompany 
her to California. 

I will not weary you with the story of his capture, 



62 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

return, and captivity until that State was finally 
reached. It, I believe, made him entertain a secret 
enmity towards the whole human race, and when later 
on this journey of 30 miles, he allowed his horses to 
run like mad down a rough ravine, I volunteered to 
advise that more careful driving would save his 
master's property, if not our lives. I need not say my 
efforts were of little service to his master, for, all at 
once, down went the right front axle, throwing him 
headlong over the horses. I happily landed in a soft 
spot with only a sprain or two. Would you have 
blamed me if I had talked loud of Lvnch law and its 
sure consequences ? But I did not. It was I, though, 
who, some two hours after, when he had walked back 
a mile or two, and traversed the same distance on his 
return, for means to repair the coach, became quite 
satisfied with everything, urged him to put his animals 
to greater speed, and pointedly reminded him of the 
worthlessness of human life in general, and his in par- 
ticular. 

Away scuttled the upland lizard, this way then that, 
attempting two ways at the same time. Wild birds 
flew screeching on before, and wild beasts slunk growl- 
ing aside. Up, up, up, till the broad Pacific appeared 
but a mere irregular line in the far western horizon, 
and the rich Sonoma valley spread out in all its sum- 
mer beauty lay fast disappearing at our feet. Still up, 
up, up, away from cultivated field and habitation of 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 63 

man, until the breath comes quicker and faster, the 
pulse runs wild, and you bow before the majestic 
heights and distant valleys as to hallowed ground. 
No pen can paint the exhilaration, the grandeur or the 
silent power of mountain influence. Our path did not 
permit of surplus space. Down, down the steep inclines 
wdth walls of solid stone sheer to the sky on the left, 
and wild, overhanging precipices on the right, into 
which a misstep, a rolling stone or the slightest swerve 
would land our almost breathless bodies hundreds of 
feet on the jagged rocks below. 

While thus whizzing along, we saw directly in our 
track a little mass of brown and white. Cupidity alone 
could have led our driver to suddenly check his coach. 
We also became interested, but before we could descend 
it suddenly bounded up and across to a thicket. Search- 
ing, we soon found a young deer, as graceful as 
a gazelle, hiding its pretty head in the leaves to escape, 
as it imagined, from the sight of its pursuers. There 
is something pathetic in the actions of the young, and 
animals are not exceptions, and when I afterwards saw 
this same little fawn by the side of a bright little 
mountain maiden, to whom it had been given, I felt 
grateful that it had fallen into little, gentle hands that 
could love and protect it. Yet, with the little fawn 
stowed away in the only available spot left in the 
coach, we still rolled on, swaying here and pitching 
there, down the zigzag way to deep chasms over which 



64 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LAXDS, 

the eagle and buzzard crossed with but a few strokes 
of their broad wings, but which we avoided by narrow, 
fish-hook curves so sharp as to threaten, in our rash 
descent, to snap our vehicle in two. 

There sat our Jehu, with one foot pressed with all 
his strength on brakes, and a firm yet half comical 
curve about his mouth, in still greater danger than his 
passengers. As the right wheels were taking a log 
which served to widen the rocky path to a sufficient 
width to admit of crossing, there came a sickening 
swish, a jerk and a thud. We thought our last day 
had come, but happily not we found, for the wheels 
had merely slipped from the log to a crevice and sunk 
to the hub, holding the coach like a vice. Had the 
log been anything but one of those immense mountain 
trees, it would have been carried away with our mo- 
mentum. We at last picked ourselves up and helped 
extricate the carriage. Going back a little, the lower 
part of the wheels could be seen hanging over the 
av;ful chasm, the bottom of which we could not dis- 
cern, and wedged in so firmly that the prospect of 
seeing volcanoes or geysers seemed, to say the least, 
indefinitely postponed. For the first time our driver 
showed some signs of humanity, by confessing that his 
team was new and hard bitted, but that he thought 
it was as good an occasion as any to break them in, a 
disclosure calculated, as you can imagine, to add little 
to our mental peace. 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE JVORLD. 65 

But I will pass swiftly over these mountain experi- 
ences, the trails of wild beast, the lonely clearing with 
its sweet, bright-eyed children, so like a country home 
in the East, where the arrival of the letter or news- 
paper we brought was the event of the month, perhaps 
the year. I could see how gently their little hands 
clasped around it, as they all fell into one embrace, 
and were left by us standing with clasped hands and 
rapt, upturned faces. Ah, how many times we feel 
the sweet simplicity of that country life I He has 
never lived who has not known the country — the 
song of birds, the fragrance of flowers, the hush of the 
forest unconsciously soften the heart, quicken the 
imagination and fill the soul with God's choicest 
emotions. 

In these mountain fastnesses, the deer, the trout 
and the robin met us everywhere, even where the 
throbbing ground grew too hot for human feet, and 
fiery steam burst out dangerously upon us. Geysers 
are usually indicated at a distance by a strong odor of 
sulphur and long lines of yellowish-white deposit on 
the surface of the ground. Then follow springs _ of 
sulphur, magnesia, alum and other .minerals, side by 
side, cold and hot, so as to boil an tgg in a few min- 
utes and cool it in five by just changing your hand. 
The heights of spray and steam are not usually uni- 
form or regular. They may burst suddenly before 
your astonished gaze, hurling stones and other debris 



66 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

like canister shot, scorching your face and hands, if 
not blistering your whole body. Then, again, there 
may be but a rumble, a puff and irregular breathing 
from the vent holes. Fine enough curiosities to visit, 
but very objectionable neighbors and resting-places. 
Two days and one night sufficed in my case. 

To speak of Yosemite Valley, Mariposa and Cala- 
veras, awakens too many pleasant memories to jot 
down here anything but the merest outline. The last 
two have nothing of paramount interest except their 
cedars or redwood trees. It is not difficult to find 
them fifteen feet in diameter and from one to two hun- 
dred feet in height. In Mariposa Grove, via Berenda, 
there are fifteen of these trees, running up almost to 
the top without any considerable branches, measuring 
from 60 to 90 feet in circumference, and over 300 
feet in height. A coach and six horses passes daily 
through the trunk of one of these, without grazing the 
sides, and leaving sufficiently firm walls to support and 
nourish the remainder of the giant. Among those of 
Calaveras, the Father of the Forest, now prostrate, is 
435 feet long and no feet in circumference, and has 
rings disclosing an age of 3,000 years or more. The 
largest now standing is called the Mother of the 
Forest, and is 321 feet high and 90 feet at its base. 
They belong to the taxodium family, and are called 
Sequoia, after a Cherokee chief of that name. 

Yosemite Valley is 4,000 feet above sea level, and 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 67 

has the Merced river running southwesterly through it. 
In many places its walls are nearly vertical and. add 
4,000 feet for the surrounding mountains. The Bridal 
Veil, Yosemite, and Virgin Tears Falls on either hand 
make you stand speechless in wonder and delight. 
Point Inspiration, as you enter the valley, looms up 
like a giant sentinel, while for the whole nine miles of 
its length grateful surprises await and spring upon you 
when little expected. At the upper end you meet the 
Vernal Falls and Mirror Lake, a pretty little sheet of 
water, reminding one of Switzerland. Mt. Starr King 
is seen just south of these ; and Sentinel Dome, from 
which the best view is obtained, lies a little further 
southwest. But, still having 25,000 or more miles 
to make, taking Southern California with its sandy 
plains, irrigated hills and valleys, its fruit and flowers 
into my eager vision the best I might, I hastened back 
to San Francisco. Every one seemed a real-estate 
broker and to live by doing just w^hat the New Testa- 
ment claims caused the death of Ananias and Sap- 
phira. Comment is unnecessary. 

On my return to San Francisco, I foimd the climate 
still unbearable. I entered a Market Street cable car, 
with dust from a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch 
deep on hat and shoulders, but before reaching my 
hotel, the rampant wind had removed nearly every 
particle of it. 

I took passage for Japan on one of the finest 



68 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

Pacific steamships ever engaged in the Eastern trade, 
and soon was off the Cliff House, with its old one- 
eyed seal and companion, and in the very jaws of 
Golden Gate, which, although it seems but a few hun- 
dred feet in width, is in reality a mile and a half. To 
my surprise and great pleasure, I found a young Span- 
ish gentleman going to Manilla, with whom I had a 
pleasant acquaintance, was to accompany me to Yoko- 
hama, as also were Bishop Warren and lady of Colo- 
rado, who were on their wav to a church conference in 
Tokio. 




A JAPANESE COIN. 



I.V A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 69 



CHAPTER IV. 

Fast fades our native shore, 

All friends behind, a trackless sea before. 

ixLTHOUGH we had from 300 to 400 Chinese 
on board, they only served to occupy my interested 
attention whenever they appeared on deck or in our 
way. I was glad to see that the stories, told by mis- 
sionaries and clergymen, in regard to white passengers 
being obliged, for want of money, to live and sleep 
among the Mongolians, were no longer true. With 
the exception of two women and three girls from Peru, 
all of whom were connected with the Chinese in one 
way or another, I found no mixture of races. There 
was one man, however, whom I at first supposed to be 
an American, as he had no queue or obliquity of eye, 
but who, I found, was a tea merchant from Georgia, 
where he had married a planter's daughter, and who 
by his choice English and urbane manners, really 
appeared foreign to them all. I often fell into con- 
versation with him, as he seemed to avoid his compan- 
ions, and disclose no bad Chinese traits. However, 
just before -we reached the first Chinese port, to my 
surprise, I found not only the narrow shoe and wide 
flapping trousers, but a respectable queue, which, with 
the aid of braided ribbon and tape, he had brought 



70 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

down quite to his heels. Knowing the treatment the 
poor fellow would have received on shore, among his 
kin and neighbors, and probably from his government, 
one quickly overlooked this apparent weakness. It 
was merely self-protection. Nor was his the only case 
of metamorphosis. Lovely little children with bright, 
happy faces, on the day for landing, timidly trudged 
along with shaved head and eyebrows, abashed and 
ashamed of the cruel disfigurement custom had thus 
perpetrated. 

The entire crew were Chinese, but w^ere officered by 
Americans. I soon learned that it was not solely on 
account of economy in the pay roll. One illustration 
will suffice. On our third day out, while making my 
customary turn on deck, I found directly at my feet 
what, at first sight, appeared like a queerly shaped log. 
It was some eight feet in length and about two feet 
wide. Its wider and upper surfaces were flattened, 
and the four edges, corresponding to those of an 
ordinary box, were deep grooves instead of sharp 
lines. There w^as no one near except the officer on 
the bridge, so I continued my investigation. That it 
was the w^ork of human hands was clear, but for what 
purpose I could not imagine, until I at last discovered 
on the upper surface what resembled, more than any- 
thing else, last year's crow tracks. It was Chinese ! 
Was it a trunk or bed ? Then it flashed across my 
mind the possibility that its Chinese owner was lying 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 71 

cold and stiff somewhere within. On looking up, my 
eyes met those of the officer of the watch, w^hich in a 
glance answered my inquiry. 

Many a grief-stricken mother, in my presence, on 
the Atlantic, had been forced, even though but two or 
three days from her native land and home, to give to 
the cruel deep a little boy or girl, and in one case, in 
1874, while w^e were within two days' sail of Great 
Britain, two Uttle girls, who had crossed the United 
States from San Francisco, and had become listless 
and weary before taking the long sea voyage, became 
worse, and one, despite physician and mother, slowdy 
closed its gentle eyes in the sleep that knows no 
waking. She was so lovely and bright, she had 
become our own, and yet before night, against our 
earnest entreaties, her little form, so peacefully sleep- 
ing, so like a pink gathered from the garden, dearer 
and more sweet than in life, was cast out into the 
pitiless sea. 

It is but one of my past experiences, making the 
rule that an American receives an ocean burial before 
twenty-four hours after death ; but here, right before 
me, lay the foreigner, the Chinese. What of him ? 
For eighteen days and nights our steamer bore the 
remains of that Celestial, until his bones could find 
rest in his native country. Why? "Because," said 
the officer, " If we buried a Chinaman at sea, it would 
anger the whole nation, and the Chinese trade would 



72 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

be totally ruined." Had I, had Bishop Warren died, 
before nightfall our remains, sewed up in a sail-cloth 
and weighted with a few pieces of old iron, would have 
been over the vessel's side, the prey of wave and shark. 
From that day I closely studied the much-vexed 
Chinese question, and although an ocean steamer is 
not the best place for accurate and fair comparison, 
I found that all my observations were afterward con- 
firmed by like experiences in their native land. The 
forward decks were set apart for these people, and for 
eighteen days it was impossible to get some of them out 
into the open air or on the hurricane deck without ab- 
solutely pulling them out by the hair of their heads. 
With but a very few exceptions they squatted or lay 
flat upon the floor or thin rush mats, gambling and 
smoking their vile opium. Only at meal time was the 
scene changed. Thousands of dollars changed hands, 
and, I am told, went in a large measure to profes- 
sionals and stewards. No sight is more pitiable than to 
see the strained attitude, the glaring eye and frantic 
contortions of a Chinaman half crazed with greed or 
disappointment; nothing more beastly, more swinish, 
than men and women lying at full length, or curled up, 
in a cloud of sickening opium smoke, with glazed eyes 
and death-like features as unconscious of your presence 
as in the tomb. This was an every-day sight, and I 
found but one redeeming feature, that almost every one 
could read and write. But, as with all mental educa- 



IiV A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 73 

tion, so called, if the heart be not at the same time en- 
lightened, there is no certainty of moral sense or good 
manners. 

The Hindoo, the Japanese, even the Malay, on meet- 
ing me on the street, politely stepped aside with an 
apologetic movement of the body or courteous lifting of 
the hand to head or breast. Not so the Mongolian of 
China. He has a stupid selfishness, that takes up the 
whole way and elbows even women and children aside. 
It was only at the cry of my sedan bearers, and from 
fear of bodily injury, that progress in their ten-foot 
streets could be made at all. The same want of 
courtesy was intensified to boldness, on the ocean. 

The first two days, on a northwesterly course, the 
air was cold and the sea raging, but the next two days 
were quiet and enjoyable. We were followed by flocks 
of boobies and albatross, measuring from tip to tip, 
three feet or more. Hardly a day thereafter, until 
near Japan, were those tireless companions absent 
from our view. Hour after hour I have stood at the 
stem rail, while those giant birds, with steady eye and 
motionless wings, like birds of prey pursued. To 
this side of our wake then that, as regular as a pendu- 
lum, swung their onward flight. Suspended on their 
huge wings and propelled by the momentum of their 
heavy bodies, down they glided almost to the water's 
level, and nearly on their right side, on a curve that 
carried them gracefully into the high air again, only to 



74 PLEASAXT HOURS IN SUNXY LANDS, 

be unceasingly repeated, until your wonder grew to a 
strange fascination. In all that long distance, but a few 
times did we catch them resting on the water, and 
then to quickly 'spread their wings, run a few steps on 
the sea, and off into the air asrain. 

Our course lav far to the north, so that for davs we 
met, on every hand, countless flocks from the Alaskan 
Islands. We were supposed to shorten our journey 
on such a circle, and come down upon Japan with an 
advantage over the Canadian line, but the ocean was 
three times in ten days stirred up by fierce typhoons 
that caused unusually long and strong coast currents. 
These set in directly against us, so that often with full 
steam we made but little actual progress. To one 
experiencing one of these frightful revolving storms 
for the first time, the last atom of courage and fortitude 
is often severely disciplined until it becomes almost 
despair. 

The sea may be as still as a mill pond in October. 
An ominous hush in the sluggish air holds fast to 
sleeping nature, when out of the yellowish sky, spring 
a spasmodic breeze, a quickly following wind, which 
roughen the distant horizon. As with a bound, from 
circling wind and wave tear forth the pent up hurri- 
cane. In a trice the peaceful scenes of nature are 
transformed into those of destruction and death. 
Junks are overturned and sunk like autumn leaves. 
Boom, boom goes a sea on our port, tearing through 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 75 

steel and iron, carrying Chinese sailors, servants, every- 
thing in its irresistible sway, and nearly swamping 
the vessel itself. Whack, whack, whack, crash, crash, 
crack, flush, amid howling of tempest and cry of man 
and beast, create, in fewer minutes than it takes to 
write, a sad and frightful pandemonium. A lull, a 
dark boiling flood, madly churning into foam, rolls 
stubbornly away and is soon lost to sight. Another 
lull, and swish-swash come spars, barrels, casks, boats, 
rigging and masts, up and around, as if in mute appeal 
for instant reinstatement. Chinese junks float help- 
lessly on all sides, alike shorn of glory and bereft of 
their occupants. Also poor John Chinaman, ^^Alle 
samee Melican man ! " 

We soon found the sea a perfect type of Balboa's 
Pacific. Perfect quiet rested on its surface. A wavy 
undulation swept over the dark blue water and seemed 
to flow over the distant horizon like water in a basin. 
Now and then a large sea-fowl lay peacefully resting in 
the placid pool, and a large palm tree or remnant of 
wreckage mounted by gulls and looking like ship- 
wrecked mortals floated aimlessly by. The busy mind 
soon caught the spell and, glad to rest, lay back in 
dreamy comfort. 

The three days following were foggy, as the repeated 
fog-whistle constantly reminded us. Only a few 
whales appeared in the afternoon for diversion. The 
next day was Sunday, and besides the service, the 



76 



PLEASANT HOURS IiX SUNNY LANDS. 




ROUTE IN THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE. 



lA^ A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 



11 




ROUTE IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 



78 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

acquaintance of Ah You, a 16-year-old Chinese girl, 
who had been kidnapped, carried to San Francisco 
and sold for $1500, makes it worthy of mention. This 
was an attractive, well educated and refined Celestial, 
quite matter of fact, but pleasing and instructive withal. 
Her feet were large, however, quite as enormous as 
many of my gentle readers, but you must remember 
that the cruel custom of pinching and dwarfing the 
feet had begun to disappear at her birth, and now is 
wholly confined to those classes in society who, in cus- 
tom as w^ell as religion, live only in the past. So, my 
gentle reader, she had a well formed, plump little foot, 
with two rings on her big toes and two bands of silver 
on her shapely ankles. Her hair was as black as a 
raven, and large loops of gold ,and onyx graced her 
well-shaped ears. She was a good type of the higher 
and better class of that nation, as you will allow, when 
I tell you that she refused to be sold for gold and 
bravely sought our aid to escape even the appearance 
of sinning. 

August I was also foggy, with a southwest wind, 
and, strange to say, as it was an unusual experi- 
ence to me, a high sea running. The Atlantic was 
faithfully personated. The high peaks and deep val- 
leys, the heavy thuds and overtopping waves, were 
piled up all about us, but a fog at the same time was 
unnatural anyw^here. 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 79 

The same experience was repeated on the following 
day, and still the more unusual one to me and most trav- 
ellers, that of throwing away a whole day from the cal- 
endar. This we did on August 2, at four bells, noon. 
This was on account of our reaching the meridian of 
Greenwich in its extension around the globe. This 
change gave us two Sundays the same week, and put 
our log into east longitud-e, like the vessels we should 
have to meet farther on. My watch, which I carefully 
kept running Boston time, was several hours fast, — and 
reached 12 hours in the Malay Peninsula, indicating 
that I had travelled half my journey around the world. 
The next day, the 4th, we were in a smooth sea again, 
and surrounded by countless nautili and jelly fish, with 
now and then the poisonous sun and devil-fish as com- 
panions, and here and there a whale and Arctic bird. 
This day would have been August 3 at any point east 
of the line, but on crossing the line we cast the 3d to 
the winds and called it the 4th, for the reasons stated. 
August 5. More Arctic birds above and around, 
with indications of land or islands, which the officer 
said were of the Alaskan group. The sky was clouded. 
The next day was the same, with the bright exception 
that the sun gladdened our eyes in the afternoon. 
Careful observations, impossible for nearly a week, 
were then promptly taken, wdiich made all breathe 
easier. Under the date of the following day I find in 
my diary : " By the loss of last Wednesday, Sunday 



80 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

comes a little unnaturally, but here it is again, and I 
have a hard time trying to make people understand 
that it is a fact. Bishop Warren held services as 
usual, but is far from well. The sea is fine and level, 
but the air is almost too warm for comfort. After my 
custom, read to officers and stewards." August 8 gave 
us a grand sea and better weather. The monsters of 
the deep sent up their arches and columns of spray in 
every direction. The two Japanese students seemed 
to take increased enjoyment as we neared their native 
land. One had taken a special degree at Oxford, Eng- 
land, and was now returning home to stay. 

And this leads me to state that, wherever on this 
broad earth I have met this race, nothing but the 
pleasantest relations have sprung up between us. The 
happy hours have sped away only too quickly. From 
the general in the standing army to the humble servant 
in the hotel, the utmost courtesy and earnest interest 
have been manifested. No wonder, then, that the mem- 
ory of the people as well as of their beautiful land re- 
mains with all the freshness of yesterday. August lo, 
a frightful ground swell was accompanied by the strong 
equatorial current common here, and the first rain, ex- 
cept in tempest, we had seen since leaving San Fran- 
cisco, 17 days before. Early the next morning, caught 
sight of Yokohama Light. Soon a cloud high in the 
sky parted and revealed a giant peak, well rounded 
and blue, with long white streaks of ice and snow run- 
ning down to and hiding in the clouds below. Majes- 
tic crown ! Mighty sentinel of a fairy land, Fusiyama • 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 81 



CHAPTER v. 

O'er hill and mount, 

Through grove and dell, 

Lo, the land where fairies dwell ! 

1 HE first impressions of a place, like those of a 
person, are often worthier than the object. This does 
not hold true of Japan. Each day discloses something 
interesting, something new. Even the two recent out- 
breaks of old volcanoes are in point, although the third, 
destroying five villages in the Bandai region, is truly 
sad. No land boasts of grander mountain king than 
Fusian or Fusiyama. Closely following the uplifting 
mist, which brought us face to face with that gigantic 
form looking down from sparkling diadems of ice in 
quiet grandeur on our pigmy vessel, rose steep hills 
wiUi deep ravines in full garb of velvet green. 

After obtaining a clear view, I found the surface of 
the water covered with fishing junks, some with straw 
matting sails, others being sculled along with an un- 
gainly long pole with a paddle tied to its water end, 
and worked from the vessel's side. Many of these 
queer craft seemed occupied by whole families as 
naked and black as Hottentots. The first to bear 
down upon us, with its prow deep in the water and 
stern high in the air, ludicrously reminded us of our 



82 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

good old great-grandmother's days and her high-heeled 
slipper, for we have nothing but this in America to fur- 
nish a fair comparison. Another striking feature is 
that no iron is used in their construction, for they are 
neatly dovetailed and joined, and often smoothed down 
to a fine finish, so that they might be said to have been 
Japanned. Just imagine such a queer craft, with stark 
naked bronze figures, with hair sticking straight up into 
the air, silently but surely closing in upon you from all 
directions, and on nearer approach seen to grasp long 
pikes with grappling iron or wooden hook, as if they 
meant business ! I afterwards became accustomed to 
it, as I found, if one will travel in the Pacific and 
Indian Oceans, he must accept it as a necessary evil 
or custom, call it Avhat you will. 

After passing two small coast settlements we saw 
the rising ground on the left of Yokohama, and soon 
reached the harbor. It is a pretty piece of water as 
you enter. The European and American when they 
can, except the U. S. Consulate, have located, and 
established hospitals on the high ground before men- 
tioned. The low ground is unhealthy in summer on 
account of the sewage in its canals. The year before 
my visit, nearly loo people had been carried off by 
cholera daily. Many foreigners left for China and the 
United States to escape danger. Next to these hospi- 
tals, but further to the* North, is another high eleva- 
tion, renowned for its military and religious history, 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 83 

that contains some queer old slab-like monuments stuck 
deep in the ground, like so many huge grave-stones. 
This was the first spot I visited, as it seemed to give 
me the best view of Yokohama, the long winding river 
to Tokio and the surroundings. There I ate my first 
Japanese lunch, and partook of their sweetmeats and 
excellent tea. The tiny cups, so fragile as to be easily 
crushed between thumb and forefinger, were served by 
two bright but timid maidens that were lovely enough 
for Cinderellas. 

But, as I have heretofore done, I am anticipating. 
While forging up the harbor against the strong current, 
on turning my glass to the rear, I perceived that we were 
closely followed by a Canadian Pacific steamer, the 
very one, probably, that w^ould have conveyed me 
hither, had I decided to take the American overland 
journey of that new line. Just before us lay their 
Batavia, once plying between New York and Liverpool 
on the Cunard line, crippled by being caught in the 
recent typhoon. Now out of style, and rusty, she 
seemed almost patriarchal. Passing one native 
steamer, and another from China, we crowded on all 
speed, and curved around to where a United States 
man-of-war rode at anchor, and with a boom from our 
gun, quickly cast our anchors. 

Before our motion ceased, rap-tat-tap, some hundred 
of bamboo poles fasten to the rail, and crew and offi- 
cers quickly become engaged in a hand-to-hand struggle 



84 PLEASANT HOURS IX SUNXY LANDS, 

to keep the natives from boarding the vessel. In spite 
of the danger, it was a most amusing scene, — men, 
women and children recklessly sculled on their slight 
but ungainly sampans, thrusting the weaker aside, and, 
too eager to get a fare, to notice the conflict on gang- 
way and side, calling out till their stiff, porcupine, 
black hair seemed to dart out little javelins. The 
hot sun of mid-day smote upon their wet, bare limbs 
and heads like the flash of a sword. The babies 
awakened, caught up the cry, and pandemonium 
reigned. After a score or more got seriously hurt, 
the rest become more governable. They took to their 
sampans like monkeys from a hot potato, greedily 
eyeing the gangway, and springing out at the first pas- 
senger so unlucky as to be obliged to go ashore. 

With a Japanese friend, I stood under shelter, and 
saw a lone Chinaman carefully pick up his treasure, all 
contained in one small bundle, and carefully pick his 
way down the steps. We were then riding some twelve 
feet high. Up sprang a forest of hooked poles, in fear 
that some more fortunate Jap might get the prize. 
Each of the hooks went straight for venturesome 
John, and held fast to bundle, trousers, man and queue 
itself. All now began quietly pulling in different direc- 
tions. As the resultant force of all this motive power 
was downward, of course downward poor John had to 
go. There was a terribly disfiguring look on his 
usually stolid countenance, something like that of a cat 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 85 

drawn by the tail. It was shameful, and everything 
was done to prevent and stop such an outrage. Down 
he had to go, nevertheless, w^hile blows were showered 
on the heads of the perpetrators with as little effect as 
an iron crow-bar on that of an active but misguided bull- 
dog. When he reached the lowest step, five or more 
sampans awaited his coming, and twice that number of 
eager boatsmen soon had strong hold of his outposts. 

Then came the tug of war. Amid bawling and fight- 
ing, pushing this sampan out, and that one in, the w^hole 
lot were precipitated into the briny deep, and poor 
John, with little clothing and less hair, was at last 
dragged, half choked, into the nearest boat. Then 
came a fight for his baggage. One tantalizingly holds 
out the bundle from the water, and a second tries to 
allure the almost breathless owner over the rest into 
his craft, w^hile another with remnants of queue and 
clothing, pursues a like course in another direction. 
John is a study. Hundreds of throats from the 
vessel's side seem to burst out at once like so many 
cannon, and hundreds of decayed oranges, pine apples, 
eggs and turnips fly into the soon gaping crowd like 
magic. The bundle is snatched by a hook. The man, 
refusing to release his hold, is suddenly jerked, bundle 
and all, into the sea. After a few well-directed blows, 
he changed his mind, and was glad to be helped into 
his boat again, empty-handed. 

Strange to say, although this serves to illustrate a 



86 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

common experience, the participants seem to take any 
result in good part, as a mere matter of business. I 
need not add, also, that none but a Jap or Chinaman 
would be treated in this harsh way, although here, as 
at Alexandria, you are annoyed beyond patience by 
pulling and pushing. I need not say, either, that my 
conveyance to the shore was by sampan, and that, too, 
with the two ungainly fifteen-foot sculls, worked by two 
bright little boys less than lo years of age, and that I 
had a most pleasant and attractive journey. 

A long strip of land, with side paved to the water, 
and extending into the bay at the foot of the Custom 
House, and literally covered by sampans, is where we 
were first set on shore. No sooner had we gained our 
feet, and paid our fare of 20 sen, than there came 
rushing down upon us a score or more of little covered 
gigs, not much larger or stronger than a good-sized 
baby carriage. Each was drawn by a short but trim- 
looking man, who quickly halted at my side and pleas- 
antly inquired, ^' Rickisha ? rickisha?" My companion 
and I, each, stepped into one, and side by side, we 
bowled along the smooth streets to a money-broker's 
office for exchange. I was not surprised to find the 
broker a Chinaman, although I confess to a little disap- 
pointment. His treatment, however, was fair and cour- 
teous. He gave me $6.50 in yens, sens and smaller 
coins, for every $5 in gold I would transfer to his 
itching palm. At Colon, we had been offered $16 for a 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 87 

%\o gold piece, both countries paying us silver, but my 
practice was to take only the amount really needed for 
expenses, as it saved me the annoyance of carrying it 
about. The tempo, represented at the end of the last 
chapter but one, is fast getting rare, and, really, is an 
awkward coin to handle. It is elliptical, of copper, and 
has the customary square hole in its centre for the 
purpose of stringing it on the iron or wire upright com- 
monly seen in the shops of both Japan and China. 
This, with the reckoning machine, meets you every- 
where. If you buy but a sash, out comes the machine, 
and the merchant's iino-ers run deftlv over his little 
wooden disks until the sum is found, and, on payment, 
your coin is quickly strung to complete the purchase. 

The new silver coinage, of the yen, the sen and 
its sub-divisions are, however, fashioned solid, like 
our coin, and are very attractive to the common 
people. They contain an inscription of the National 
dragon on one side, and a wreath on the other. Paper 
money, in little strips, is also in use, reminding us of 
our shinplaster days of the war. They have a neat 
and commodious railroad station, convenient to mer- 
chant and trader. The level tract on which most of 
the business-houses stand is right at the water's edge, 
convenient, but not so desirable in point of health. 
Religiously and educationally, the United States and 
New England are well represented here, as their 
places of business abundantly show, and had we been 



88 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS. 

content to leave Japan with no knowledge of the in- 
land cities and towns, we would have departed, I 
think, with a sense of pleasure that only comes from 
appreciation of a worthy object 

One fine morning, we were drawn to the station by 
our jinrickisha men for a trip to the capital, now called 
Tokio. Scores of these little busy vehicles were going 
the same way. Old men, on foot with pretty little 
children out for a walk, seemed ever}^vhere, while 
many a mother, with her little one clinging pig-aback, 
hurried along to work or to market. All wore wooden 
clogs or sandals, raised high from the ground, with a 
strap often between the index toe, if I may so speak, 
and its next neighbor, necessitating the curiosity of 
a mitten-shaped stocking. In the muddiest w^eather 
you see neat white socks perching on these high 
w^ooden stilts, so to speak, and if one slip oft and you 
spy the aperture before mentioned, do not shrink back 
as if it were a rent, for it is all for a useful purpose. 
Surely it is not additional proof of the Darwin theory. 
Alighting at the station, a mother passed on before 
me. Down from her back slips a tiny child. Tap-tap 
go two little clogs on the pavement, and straight as an 
arrow^, without use of form or hands, two little mittened 
feet slip like mice into their shallow recesses, and like 
a quail chicken with shell on back, away trips the little 
chap after his fast retreating dame. 

Tokio is about i8 miles north of Yokohama and can 



I.V A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 89 

be reached, by water or by rail, in about an hour's ride. 
While waiting, in comes a woman of 50, accompanied 
by a maiden of about 16 years. Neither has hat or 
head covering, but rich folds of jet black tresses, care- 
fully arranged in broad plaits, alone are seen. The 
younger is lovely in shape and personal attractions, 
but a bright bare spot glares out from the crown of 
her otherwise fair head, a pink flesh spot that you 
want to clap a plaster upon, and say, '^ For Heaven's 
sake, my dear, do go and dress yourself ! " The elder 
smiled upon her comrade with effusion, and in that 
smile — horrors ! her teeth were in deep mourning. I 
had forgotten that they here require, in the married 
women, two rows of black, mummy-like ivories, from 
fear of a kiss. No one could imagine doing it ; why 
not then let the pearls grow, they would drop out soon 
enough. I had no sooner recovered from my disgust, 
when in marched some sixty men with long wooden 
pikes, ten feet in length or more. Shield-like hats, 
made of palm or straw, rested on one arm, and coarse 
mantles of like material upon their shoulders, while 
coarse grass sandals appeared strapped to their feet. 
Examining them closely, I concluded they were not 
soldiers, as they had no weapons except the long 
smooth stock or pike. An official soon came forward 
and deprived them of these, and, to my inquiries, 
stated they were people from the interior going up to 
Tokio on a holiday. I somehow felt that I had lost 



90 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

a victory. Yet they were a more martial and formid- 
able body than the white-gloved garrison I afterward 
found at the capital. 

At last the short train, with its tiny cars, bore us 
from the station, by thatched hovel, groups of round- 
lopped houses, queer image-like graveyard stones, and 
out into the wide rice fields and richly cultivated coun- 
try. Large water lilies, three feet high and bearing a 
flower as large as the Victoria regia, thickly lined the 
meadows. Apple and persimmon trees, laden with 
rich fruit, clung to low wooden supports, and beans, 
radishes, onions and* tea seemed evervwhere. The rice 
fields are divided by ridges of land, so that, after the 
one-handled plough has been drawn through, by coolies 
or an ox, and the rice shoots are fully set, water may 
be turned on to keep the soil in proper condition for 
rapid growth. After the rice is cut with their straight- 
bladed and long-handled sickles, and the straw laid 
aside for thatch, wheat is sown. Three crops are 
raised on the same spot yearly, thus keeping agricul- 
tural Japan like a garden. Four crops of alfalfa were 
shown me in California, raised in one year from the 
same land ; but the rotation of crops, as practised in 
Japan, is far better for the land. The apple referred 
to is of fine russet color, has the flav^or and internal 
appearance of a pear, and is raised by training the 
tree to an arbor. It is almost tasteless, however. On 
the other hand, the persimmon is rich, sweet and juicy. 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 91 

But on we sped, passing a factory or two, and a 
machine shop under French engineers, till the old forts 
barring the river, four in number, round and glistening 
like polished marble, 3uddenly flashed into view. Yet 
on. to the old castle and palace of the Mikado, where 
Gen. Grant was received a few years ago, and we find 
ourselves within the commodious station at Tokio. 
The place is located on a plain, with some attractive 
heights here and there adjoining and relieving it. 
When it was of less importance, it was known as 
Yeddo. It now is a city of a million and a half inhab- 
itants, and extends nine miles in length and five miles 
in breadth. Its old temples are the best preserved in 
all Japan, — lyiyasu. one, if not their greatest hero, 
having given it large patronage, — lyiyasu, who raised 
Yeddo from obscurit}' to the leading city and strong- 
hold of all Japan, and whose remains, removed from 
the whispering cedar and booming sea at Kuno-Kan, 
now rest among the shady groves and bright lakes of 
Nik-ko. There Buddha was first introduced bv a 
Shinto deity. High on the mountain side rises a grand 
mausolum, the present resting place of all that is mortal 
of this the greatest Mikado, '' The Great Light of the 
East, the Great Incarnation of Buddha.'' 

Until the latter part of the sixth centur}^ Shintoism 
was the prevailing religion, but it was little better than 
a political creed. Nichiron. I am told, although a 
Shintoist, earlv be^ran to teach that if Buddha be 



92 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

obeyed and followed, man would become a part of him 
in the great hereafter ; if not, man will suffer repeated 
deaths and final annihilation. All are supposed to have 
had a prior existence, and to be destined to suffer again 
after death here, and go on from one life to another 
until the soul attains its highest purity. This is the 
same religion that you find from Egypt to Japan, with 
Hindoo, Malay, Chinese and Japanese, comprising 
more devotees than any other religion on the face of 
the globe \ but, despite all its temples, groves and 
forms, there is no outward observance, except on holi- 
days, and little vital religion here, as elsewhere, unless 
it be politeness. Sea, land, and sky combine to make 
the land beautiful and sublime, and the belief in a 
former existence and future probation is a fitting 
accompaniment. 

As we stepped from the station to the pavement, 
long lines of the ubiquitous rickisha moved down upon 
us, so much like child's play as to create a laugh, but in 
we step, and are, by direction, driven to the Consulate, 
and then, with the necessary permit, around to the old 
palace, closely walled to the very water's edge. Then 
off again, over bridge, down street, through the lilipu- 
tian bazaars, which are inimitable, except by children 
in their play. 

There are but a very few houses in either Japan or 
China above two stories, — hotels, warehouses, and 
palaces being an exception. Most of them are low 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 93 

studded, and remind you of seaside cottages at home, 
except the whole front is open, and, if closed at all, 
closed by lattice work or paper slides, the paper serv- 
ing instead of glass, to admit the light. The floor is 
always raised a foot or more, and, as you walk or ride 
by, you get a full view of their household economy. 
The floors are divided into rooms by this same sliding 
screen of paper or, among the wealthier class, of silk 
and ornamental frames. 

Upon a dais, set like a picture in its frame, a Jap- 
anese maiden, with clasped hands and bright face 
turned upward to the rising sun, may sometimes be 
seen at her morning devotion. The very next neigh- 
bor may be an artisan, busily at work in a correspond- 
ing room. Such is life, the dwelling usually serving, 
even in its best room, for a workshop, art gallery, — 
and then they are always curious and attractive, — and 
reception-room. It would require a volume to describe 
the variety of lacquer ware, carved ivory, embroidered 
silk, and hand-painted screens, pottery and bronze, 
which you find everywhere in full view on the leading 
streets. As in its forests, you see the tiniest moss and 
fern by the side of the noblest pine, so in Tokio, you 
find from the frailest cup to the eternal bronze. 

Even if I go on, how can I giv^ an adequate idea of 
Tokio ! Its temples, its old castle, reached by almost 
countless stone steps at an angle of 80 deg. or more, 
its University and scientific schools, its white-gloved 



94 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

and white-robed . military, standing at little boxes on 
the street corners, its volcanic mountains and earth- 
quake river valleys, its scarcity of bird and insect, its 
rare abundance of fish and flower, pen fails to repre- 
sent. For the temples, it is enough to say that, although 
quaint, grotesque and elaborate, they are, at the same 
time, gaudy and cheap, and their shrines and priests a 
relic of barbarism. Yet I removed mv shoes and 
tramped them over, out of respect for the persevering 
and enthusiastic toilers that spent a life, perhaps, in 
their perfection. The dragon, the stork, and the large 
mouthed and terror-inspiring deity, crop out every- 
where. So does the American as a tourist, for in ex- 
change for the yen I handed the priest, the temple's cof- 
fers yielded up an Italian lira and a United States nickel 
five-cent piece, which were handed me with a smile by 
the plump little fellow who knew I was American. 

There was an eclipse of the sun that day, and as- 
tronomers from all parts of the world had met for 
observations, and in the absent-mindedness peculiar to 
home clergymen and scientists, the nickel was probably 
passed off for a fifty-cent admission. Although the sky 
is laden with dew and rain, and keeps the rich soil 
capable of yielding sixty-fold of rice, tea, millet and 
cotton, it smiled my whole stay, like the bright-eyed 
maiders beneath it. The present Mikado is but 36 
years old, and, unlike the ruler of old kept concealed 
by shogun and daimio, he seeks the best and most pro- 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 95 

gressive in Germany. France, England and the United 
States, and now promises to his people in 1890 as free 
a country as Old England. Long live both ruler and 
people, to whom it is nature itself to be graceful, cour- 
teous and happy ! 

It was with sinking heart that I bid adieu. It is 
with feelings of homesicknesss that I now revive the 
memory. The last I saw of its interesting shores, 
after Fusi-an, with its ice-bound summit, were its two 
active volcanoes, Smoking Jack, and another the name 
of which has gone from memory. The inland sea, 
with mirror -like surface and green slopes, — even 
Nagasaki, about the size of Yokohama, but dealing in 
coal instead of indigo, rice, tea and silk, as in the latter 
place, soon passed out of view, and nothing but the 
calm, blue sea with its flashing flying flsh remained to 
sustain our sinking spirits. Countries, like individuals, 
attract and repel, and nothing could have been more 
deplorable to one in our over-strained condition, than 
the change from Japan to China. 

Shanghai and Amoy we will not describe. Formosa 
we saw next, but its wildness, both of people and 
shores, hardly deserves our time, though for the first 
time we met with the little rectangular bar of silver, 
worth about Si. 50 in our money, in use as coin, and an 
animal resembling our prairie bison, used for motive 
power, both of which were of some interest. A good 
part of the coast of China, down to the Pearl river, is 



96 FLEASAXT HOCKS IX SCXXY LAXDS, 

hilly, with now and then a deep ravine or low plain. 
The rivers appear in places to have repeatedly changed 
their course, and the hills appear barren, compared 
with Japan. Acres of w^hales' food, palm trees and 
Chinese fishing junks swarmed around our boat, until 
it seemed as though we must stop, or run the latter 
down. But in those quiet days, tilted back under the 
deck's awning, we loved to recline, drinking in the 
fresh breeze and talking of Ward and Chinese Gordon, 
the foreign Chinese heroes, of whom the latter had 
lately met so brave and heroic a death in the Soudan, 
and who had not Ions; before sailed our verv course. 

They were dreamy days, and not altogether unprof- 
itable. But one day, while thus employed, a friend 
came running up and, in his inability to speak English, 
cauo:ht hold of mv arm and led me forward down the 
companion-way. He excitedly pointed to some fifty 
or more Chinamen grouped around the vessel's side. 
They seemed so serious and businesslike I, at first, 
failed to see the cause for my companion's excitement, 
but, on approaching nearer, the first thing that caught 
my eye was a long-necked goose, stuffed and cooked 
nice and brown, its mouth full of bon-bons, and the 
rest bedecked with celery, joss sticks and what not, in 
close communion with a plump, crisp and juicy pig fit 
for a king. A quick upward movement of those grim- 
visaged Celestials sent goose, pig and all far over the 
vessel's side, and followed them with handfuls of strips 



IN A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD, 97 

of paper called prayers. It was a strange and, to me, 
amusing scene, but the decorum was that of a funeral. 
It seems that a steamer, called the ''Japan," with sev- 
eral hundreds of Chinese, had some years before gone 
down at this point, and that all true Chinese were 
expected to offer prayers and sacrifice to the Tost of the 
sea in their behalf. 

Far in the distance we saw the heights of Southern 
China, a long line of smoke indicating the presence of 
a sister boat in advance. By a little starboard move- 
ment, we were able to see a narrow, zigzag passage 
between high, abrupt hills, into which we soon has- 
tened. How a sailing vessel can enter is a mystery^ 
yet here they are, until the channel becomes too nar- 
row for other than our own, when down shoots the sun 
pitilessly upon our heads. We can feel it, like a knife, 
through the thick canvas awnings. On the left, Chi- 
nese are toiling up the steep banks in the construction 
of a new fortification. On the right, large oval white 
spots appear upon the hillsides. By my- glass, they 
closely resemble marble disks. A medical friend, who 
had a little knowledge of the place, informed me that 
they were Chinese tombs. These I found elsewhere, 
especially at Canton, where whole hills were devoted 
to the same cave-like burials. But on we forge, the 
high mountains on the left, the hills on our right, till 
we catch sight of a signal station, followed by a long 
line of buildings unmistakably European or American, 



98 PLEASANT HOURS IiV SUNNY LANDS, ■ 

we could not tell which. With increased speed, we 
stand to port, and a neat oval harbor, nearly land- 
locked, with vessels of all nations, suddenly comes into 
view. A little beyond, to the left, rose high moun- 
tains, precipitous and rocky, with a very small plain 
covered with modern houses down to the very water's 
edge, while others seemed climbing and hanging to 
craggs where iron rivet and chain, alone, held back 
impending ruin. 

This was Hong Kong, the principal port for the 
Chinese silk and tea trade. On we glide till, with a 
graceful curve and booming guns, we announce our 
arrival and let slip the anchor chains. Who would 
imagine a settlement in this queer, isolated spot ! It 
seemed like finding the cave of Capt. Kidd in the 
Bahamas. Taking a Chinese sail-boat, we went ashore. 
The husband and son manned the sails, the wife and 
daughters steered our course, while one or two of their 
almond-eyed little ones crawled up from behind, fell 
upon our necks, and peaked curiously around into our 
faces. Such mites of humanity, such attentive and in- 
sinuating little rascals, we forgot our shirt bosoms and 
let them hug. But it was a genuine water home for 
the whole family. Summer and winter finds this 
numerous family hived within its narrow walls. But 
what more shall we say of this people, so character- 
istically opposite to us in daily life and custom. 

Some one has said, *' This is a country where the 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 99 

roses have no fragrance and the women no petticoats ; 
where the laborer has no Sabbath, the magistrate no 
sense of honor'; where the needle points to the South, 
and the sign of being puzzled is to scratch the an- 
tipodes of the head; where the place of honor is on 
the left hand, and the seat of intellect is in the stomach ; 
where to take off your hat is an insolent gesture, and 
to wear white garments is to put yourself into mourn- 
ing." Speaking of dress, its outward appearance is 
the same both for male and female, with the exception 
that the frock and trousers of the latter are broader 
and more flowing. If you look for style, your disap- 
pointment will be great and lasting. And yet Hong 
Kong is not the best place in which to study the Chi- 
nese, as they are too much under English influence to 
appear fully natural. In some parts of China, although 
shape or style remains the same, there is a great affecta- 
tion of delicate color and ornamentation. 

Should any one desire to appear a la Chinese, just 
snatch up, immediately on rising, your two pillow-cases, 
and never so negligently join them at the open ends. 
Clip off the ends opposite, and boldly don them. You 
are half Chinese, my friend. Hurriedly cut in your 
bolster covering, if you have one, two good-sized slits 
towards one end, for the arms, and make another aper- 
ture large enough for the insertion of the head. Taking 
it for granted that you have put the first articles on your 
lower extremities, you have but to carelessly throw the 



100 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

last over your head, insert your arms, and perhaps pull 
the article down a trifle, and you are in full costume. 
You feel queer, and conscious, perhaps, that you look 
still more so. Your ankles refused to be covered, and 
the arm bashfully draws up its full length. It makes 
your appearance none the less true. You are in 
mourning, too. That, no doubt, will end the experi- 
ment. Many a time have I seen these Celestials in 
those pillow-cases, and the only additional article of 
dress a towel, sUt in the middle for the neck, hanging 
down fore-and-aft, so to speak, and caught together 
with cloth loops and buttons. 

When we first came to anchor, the usual active and 
boisterous scenes of Japanese and Chinese ports were 
again enacted. Long, bamboo hooked-poles were, in 
the twinkling of an eye, fastened to the rail, and four, 
five, sometimes more, natives clambered, like so many 
rats, up their dizzy and dangerous heights on the same 
pole to deck. As I was looking on, one snapped, and 
down crashed the whole string of struggling humanity 
upon the boats below. It would have killed anything 
but a Chinaman. I could not see even a change of 
countenance among the entire number. The same 
stolid look, up-and-try-it-again expression, accompanied 
them to a renewed attempt. I need not detail again 
such a scene. The one at Yokohama, although mild 
in comparison, is a good illustration of greed for pas- 
sengers in these isolated countries. Steamers as large 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 101 

as ours have been attacked in open sea, boarded and 
overrun by swarms of these Chinese rats, before any- 
thing but hot water could be turned upon them. They 
call them pirates there, and even since my return, the 
San Pablo has fallen a victim to their rapacity by 
burning. 

On my pleasant sail with the family referred to, in- 
spection of boat life was easy. Everything was scru- 
pulously clean. The boat was a sampan, with two 
wide awnings for shelter from the rain and sun, one 
amidships, and the other over the stern, where the wife, 
daughters and babies were located. It was here, also, 
that I was placed. There was a good breeze, and the 
Chinese sail is peculiarly adapted for well-regulated 
power. It is similar to a bat's wing. Radiating spars 
extend across its whole surface, which can be reefed 
like a fan, and almost as easily, so that, while danger 
is averted, speed is regulated, and you fairly glide 
along, skimming the water like a bird. When landed, 
two coolies- strung my baggage on a bamboo and ran 
away, like deer, to the hotel. Hong Kong has two of 
the finest hotels in the whole world. The same may 
be said of several of its places of business, but it is so 
closed in from the sea that many Europeans have 
sought the heights, thousands of feet above, to get 
a breath of air. Punkas, or long hangings fastened 
on the upper edge to the ceiling, are kept in motion 
by coolies pulling an attached cord. Its fan-like 



1 02 PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

motion sends a constant current of cooling air in 
both directions. The heat would often be unbearable 
otherwise. This simple invention is in use from Japan 
to the Mediterranean. In the saloon of ocean steamers 
it is stationed directly above the tables, and is gener- 
ally kept in motion only at meal time, when its grateful 
fanning is as dear to the traveller as a zephyr in the 
desert. 

As I write, my evening paper relates that cholera is 
fast decimating the European settlements at Hong 
Kong. That dreaded disease, as well as small-pox, is 
always to be met, summer or winter, in this land of 
flowers and heathen. The Emperor, in 1875, ^^^ ^ 
victim to the latter, and many a poor fellow who left 
home a bright, rosy Scotch or English lad told me 
how his heart ached to return to his aged parents and 
family, because his disfigurement by that awful curse 
seemed too great a humiliation for him to force upon 
their loving eyes. Whenever I met such a one, he 
clung to me, although a stranger, in such speechless 
pathos, it often became painful. 

By day, the streets of Hong Kong are nearly impassa- 
ble on account of the number of jinrickishas, sedan 
chairs and coolies, and, to my surprise, the European 
does not hesitate to curse, strike, and even knock down 
the Chinaman who is so unlucky as to get in his way. 
A few miles across the harbor and you might see the 
tables turned. John will put up with anything if he 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 103 

can only earn money, and he knows that he must 
stand the cuffs of the European if he wants his cop- 
pers ; so he grins and bears it. He cannot be out on 
the streets at night later than 8 o'clock, and has to do 
his gambling and opium smoking in secret. Fifteen 
thousand in three years are said -to have left here for 
the United States. There are some 15 consuls of differ- 
ent nations, and about ten banking-houses here, but, 
as it is a free port and really belongs to England, I do 
not know the amount of trade. It is immense, how- 
ever. Kohloon, right across the harbor, is another 
breathing-place for resident Europeans. 

But let us take a side-wheel steamer for Canton, 
which lies some 75 miles northwest of Victoria or 
Hong Kong, as it is called. The boat draws but little 
water, and so lies at the wharf a little south of the 
hotel. She easily swings off and slowly steams down 
to the mouth of the Pearl River, on which Canton 
with its canal and narrow winding house-rafts is located. 
Our companions are all Chinamen. We think of rats 
and lice. You really thank heaven that the Mandarins 
of this benighted land have set their condemnation on 
railroads. It is a lucky escape from the three-in-a-seat 
system you feel would here prevail. Do you see that 
dark-skinned, monkey-faced John squat on the deck ? 
Yes. You notice that he has removed his only upper 
garment, a flimsy, dilapidated affair, and, having turned 
it inside out, seems strangely contemplative. If you 



104 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

will step nearer 3^ou will observe a smile play over his 
usually taciturn features as he swoops down upon a 
little spot of activity within the folds of said raiment. 
With a deftness, gained only by long practice, there is 
a sudden transfer of hand to mouth, and, although 
fully convinced that the wdcked flea no man pursueth, 
you quickly beat a retreat. With hill on each side, for 
eight hours you pursue the even tenor of your way, 
till a high pagoda, thickly massed sampans, rafts con- 
taining whole families, and large warehouses come 
suddenly into view. The banks are lined with sam- 
pans, and the shore and streets swarm with the pigmy 
Chinamen, while above, with the exception of several 
pagodas and temples piercing the air, there is nothing 
but a plain of red-tiled roofs. 

Canton is well walled, however, and, it would seem, 
regularly laid out, but none of the streets are more 
than eight or ten feet in width, and, in your chair, car- 
ried by being swung from the shoulders of from two to 
four coolies, you are in mortal fear of causing serious 
damage to shins, if no other property, of busy John. 
Mahometanism as well as Buddhism is represented by 
an ancient temple. The English and French for years 
have at times controlled the destiny of the place, and 
many a siege it has been obliged to undergo before 
reaching its present state. Whole hills, on one side, 
are devoted to graves and tombs for the dead. One 
of the largest temples, a Buddhist, called the ^'Temple 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 105 

of the Ocean Banner/' covers seven acres of ground, is 
surrounded by a wall and laid out into courts. Here 
also are gardens and a cemetery for the ashes of the 
priests, whose bodies are usually burned. There are 
about 2,000 nuns and priests in the city, nearly all of 
whom belong to Buddhist temples. These are gloomy, 
uninteresting structures. One visit suffices. Even 
where the idol sits or lies enshrined, there is but feeble 
light, and that only in front. The Mosque is an angu- 
lar, tapering tower, about i6o feet high, erected by 
Arabian adventurers centuries ago. A pagoda of nine 
stories, octagonal in form and 170 feet high, thirteen 
centuries old, stands near the west gate. 

The market in Japan contained shark and other 
strange food, but here it was a source of still greater 
amusement. My readers may not know that the Chi- 
nese use no milk nor any of its products, as cheese or 
butter. Among their delicacies we observed, as in a 
dream, cats, dogs — not in the form of sausage, but 
plain matter-of-fact dog-meat — owls, hawks, horse-flesh, 
rodents, and edible birds' nests. Surely, if these are 
delicacies, it is not hard to understand how industrious 
John lives and thrives where others would starve. 
There are many other curious things in this immense 
country that really have an abiding interest. There 
is the tallow tree ; there is the wax insect which, placed 
on the leaves of a tree, after a short time leaves a 
waxy deposit, which is removed and thrown into 



106 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

boilers and rendered into solid wax, and afterward 
moulded into sugar-loaf cakes. There is the camphor 
laurel, the blacking tree, the bamboo, the lichee, 
bearing a pleasant fruit in grape-like clusters, each 
enclosed in a covering similar to the oak ball ; the var- 
nish tree ; the mulberry, upon which millions of silk- 
worms, on fan-like palms, are ravenously and noisily 
feeding. Even silk is found wild. There are rubies, 
precious stones, fire -crackers and palm-leaf fans, which 
are exported to New York alone to the amount of 
$5,000,000 annually, cassia buds, and about Amoy, the 
well-known Bohea tea, which is erroneously called after 
the Woo e Mountains in its neighborhood. Amoy also 
exports sugar and fine sugar candies, but the Island of 
Formosa, opposite, is still richer in sugar, and also 
exports largely sulphur, jute, camphor, grass cloth and 
rice paper. In places the rivers, in summer, carry 
down to the plains their burden of sediment and leave 
it bare on their banks. The following winter finds the 
industrious Celestial busily washing from its varied 
constituents the bright yellow gold. Hemp grows 
often more than 12 feet in height for miles. 

Thus might one go on about this busy yet stagnant 
land, the rich Cathay of the Middle Ages^ In 1247, 
some one writes of this strange land : '* The country 
is very rich in corn, in wine, in gold and silver, in silk, 
and every kind of produce for the support of man- 
kind. The sea lies between it and India. These 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 107 

Cathayans are little fellows, speaking much through 
the nose, and have very narrow eyes. The common 
money consists of pieces of cotton paper, about a palm 
in length and breadth, upon which certain lines are 
printed. They do their writing with a pencil, such as 
painters paint with, and a single character of theirs 
comprehends several letters, so as to form a w^hole 
word." It is hoped that their cotton money never 
served them the rascally turn of our linen paper 
money in 1862. It is interesting to note its existence 
at that early date, as well as the use of the brush in- 
stead of the pen in writing, just as they do to-day. 
They manipulate it with all the skill of an artist, and, 
as almost every one can read and write, the eye 
is early trained and passable artists made of all. 
Here printing was invented eight centuries or more in 
advance of Guttenburg, and here Columbus bent his 
adventurous eye when he sailed west from Cadiz. 
Then Cathay and Zipangun ; or China and Japan, were 
the El Dorado of all Europe. Nothing could exceed 
the fabulous riches they were reported to contain. 
But age and precedent are not marked by inventions 
alone. Moral training and social influence run in the 
same old beaten track, and among a good deal that 
seems strange and undesirable something might be 
learned with profit by the people of our own country. 

One thing is filial piety, the respect and love of 
parent for child and child for parent, whatever be the 



108 PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

age, condition, or estate. You see miles of boats and 
rafts on the rivers, apparently overrun with people, 
who live thereon the year round. You see their small, 
one, or at best, two-storied dwellings, similarly crowded 
with humanity. Why ? Do not set it down to economy 
alone, for it is largely from filial aifection. As soon as 
a son is able to take care of himself, he does not run 
away from home, or ungratefully curse his parent for 
no better support or condition, but puts his shoul- 
der to the wheel and makes it move more easily. 

Then too a wife is early sought, by some female go- 
between, and, if acceptable, the son presents her with 
a little book bearing the impress of a dragon on one 
side and a phoenix on the other, emblems of conjugal 
fidelity. If both families are satisfied, she is brought 
home, thus forming around the old a nucleus for a 
new household. This seems a redeeming feature to 
many of their dark ways. Frugal, persevering, en- 
lightened, they are the equal of any race, but without 
these qualities they, as any other like people, are a 
curse to the neighborhood they infest. The compres- 
sion of the feet of their female infants is a practice 
slowly decaying, yet, on all sides, that naked member 
still thrusts its tortured shape before your critical eye. 
The width of the foot often seems unnatural, and be- 
neath the arch, so beautiful in the natural member, 
runs an ugly depression, while above the prominent 
'heel is another fissure still more deforming. Surely, 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 109 

a whole field of corns is of rarer loveliness than this 
monstrosity. But it is intended for a covering of 
sock and slipper! A good illustration of modern 
morality ! 




A CHINESE NUT. 



CHAPTER VI. 

In India's spicy breezes bathed, 
Peace to mind and heart. 

vJn my return to Hong Kong, I remained barely 
long enough to dine with a friend at his neighboring 
bungalow, and inspect the Indian Sepoy, the Sikh 
guards and soldiers of the English garrison, now re- 
nowned for their physical and manly beauty. By mid- 
day we were aboard an East India steamer, and at 
once under full speed, were ploughing along to the 



110 PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

China Sea. Without looking after baggage, I climbed 
to the bridge, but found myself confronted by an active 
and apparently earnest bull-dog, which eyed me with 
an expression that plainly meant business. As he 
seemed to have no human companions, and I no ani- 
mal friends, my only safety was to boldly push on. 
And on I went, despite the quickly curling lip and 
formidable array of glistening teeth. I remember call- 
ing — gently, I thought — the .horrid beast, ''Beauty," 
but why, except from a forced conviction that the way 
he could take hold was most pointedly expressed by 
that term, passes all comprehension. It cannot be 
from love. My memory will not allow me to say it 
was from sarcasm. With a swing to the left, I landed 
in the lower wheel-house, where I snatched up a handy 
marine glass and shot out its long sections square into 
the bounding brute's eyes. 

With a loud, short bark, he crouched upon his 
stumpy legs and sprang to this side, then that, in joy- 
ous play, as if to say, '* How glad I am to see you. I 
have been dozing in the sun, and my eyes at first took 
you for a heathen. You have come to play, I see. 
Let me just have hold of that end ? " That end, he 
had often had hold of, a fact clearly proven by the 
many little dents and scratches along its otherwise 
smooth surface. Fully recognizing the value of cau- 
tion, when dealing with the grinning, either dog or 
man, I suffered not the wily foe to get around to the 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. \\\ 

rear, but kept him amused until I had gained the upper 

bridge, with which Eastern vessels are now supplied. 

There I found the Captain, chief officer, and a Malay 

quartermaster. The wheel of this upper bridge did 

not exceed a foot in diameter, and could be controlled 

with two fingers, the steering power really being done 

by steam. The quickness and reliability, as- well as 

ease, of guiding such a mighty object as the ocean 

steamship amid the many little islands and channels 

found here, and often so suddenly approached tliat 

even the united force of four men, as are often needed 

at the wheel of some vessels, strike one as marvellous. 

A loud cry from the deck caused me to step to the 

rail and look down. Hundreds of Chinese stood 

before me wildly gesticulating and pointing to their 

native shore. A boat on our port was being towed 

along at a speed which almost lifted it bodily out of 

the water, and I had about concluded the outcry to be 

nothing more than a signal to throw off the tow-line, 

when a stalwart John came rushing down the deck and 

began belaboring all about him with a stout cane. 

Splash — thud — splash again, and then so often, we 

turned to the water. One Chinaman had sprung over 

the rail, directly in front of the racing junk, and had 

been struck with force enough to kill. Up he rose, 

however, and struck boldly out for the neighboring 

shore. Another followed, then another and another, 

till a score or more were earnestly making for liberty. 



112 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

On, faster and faster, we cleft the quiet water, till 
some one succeeded at last in casting off the tow and 
thus securing quiet. 

As I looked down on the unhappy faces below, I 
recalled a statement made to us before starting, that 
we were to carry out to the East Indies, on contracts 
of one or more years, several hundreds of Chinese as 
plantation laborers. These had never left their homes 
or native land before, and had been tempted to come 
aboard and undertake the journey on the promi-se of 
50 or so silver dollars a year. It is little better than 
slavery, and as soon as their native shores began to 
recede, thoughts of home proved too strong for the 
coveted bribe, so pell-mell over they plunged, like por- 
poises in a breeze, too much excited to realize danger 
either from boat or sea. It was a strange sight, and 
meant escape from harsh treatment, poor food and 
cruel blows, a worse fate than that of our slave in 
i860, so we looked on in speechless sympathy. There 
were sullen brows that night, and many a day there- 
after, as little knots of dark-visaged coolies crowded 
together and discussed the situation. But we were 
in the teeth of a stiff S. W. monsoon, that piled the 
deck high with foaming billows that drove the unfor- 
tunate cooley below. 

The Chinese Sea can be strong and beautiful, but 
never gentle and quiet before a monsoon. Up, up, 
rose our gallant ship, and then like a dolphin, straight 



I^/ A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. HS 

as an arrow, down plunged her nose into the very- 
depths. For several days we experienced just such 
wild and dangerous treatment. The coast of Anam 
rose high to the starboard, until we passed Hue and 
came to Saigon, the scene of the French war with the 
Black Flags, when it gradually became more low and 
sandy. I w^as told that the elephant, tiger and panther 
still run wild along these shores, but we were not so 
fortunate as to meet anv, thous^h we saw fires at nisrht 
built for protection from them. Bankok, the capital 
of Siam, lies around to the right, but quite 30 miles up 
the river. Our steamer was too large to get across the 
bar, and, to my regret, I was obliged to forego my visit 
to the Sacred Elephants. My zeal was somewhat com- 
pensated by looking at the surrounding country, and 
in meeting a young Scotchman just returned from that 
city, who related his experience, but one much too 
long for insertion here. His story was, that there are 
two barns or places for the sacred white elephants of 
the Emperor, and that one was open to all. He also 
repeated the story — which occurred to me as old — that 
one day the Empress was being conveyed across the 
water, and as all on board were faithful subjects and 
had been taught that death w^ould be meted out to him 
who should be so sacrilegious as to lay his hand on 
Her Majesty, they kept piously aloof, and when by acci- 
dent she happened to slip into the treacherous deep, they 
stood quite as piously looking on, and let her drown. 



114 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXJDS, 

I believe it is merely another version of Johnny Sands. 
''And she went in, of course. I can't, my dear, though 
much I wish, but you have tied my hands." 

But what shall we say of one of the largest islands 
of the whole world, which I soon found right in my 
path, and which also presents the queer status of a 
rapidly-growing, or rising island. Borneo is but little 
known, except on its coa§t, and a few miles tov;ards the 
interior, but Sarawak lies i]i so temperate a climate, and 
not so far from the equator, we may say a few words of 
this part of the strange land. The Dutch seem to 
control a good part of the island, though the English, 
since the advent of Sir James Brooke in 1846, have 
taken no slight part in the commerce and mining. 
Besides coal, antimony, copper, iron, tin, gold, dia- 
monds, quicksilver, platina, sulphur, marble, and even 
petroleum, are found in paying quantities. There 
seem to be no active volcanoes about, although its 
peaks are certainly those of old activity, and that 
reminds me that Avhile looking upon the old crater of 
Fusiyama, with its fires supplanted by perennial ice 
and snow, we could not help believing that it might 
once again burst out in all its old-time power and 
grandeur, and my evening's paper recounts an outbreak 
of a companion with the loss of 300 lives and 1,000 
injured. True, that is Japan, but, as the earthquake 
and coral insect is constantly adding to Borneo's im- 
mense domain, it will not be strange that the eath- 



nv A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 115 

quake may sometime give way to the mountain out- 
break. The elephant, rhinoceros, ourang-outang and 
many forms of ape, the honey bear, oxen, pigs, croco- 
dile, deer, boa-constrictor and eagle, run wild. Among 
the palms, the cocoanut and sago are the most impor- 
tant. Slavery still exists in the island. Kuching is 
the principal place, and a nephew of Sir James Brooke 
is rajah or ruler. 

Here it was that we came across the delicious trop- 
ical fruits of the Indies, the mangosteen, the durian, 
and the custard apple Strolling about one day, my atten- 
tion was attracted by some round, reddish-brown balls, 
about the size of a common apple, with a slender stem, 
having at its base several close-fitting capsules or leaves, 
scattered along beneath my feet. They were so artistic, 
I gathered some out of mere curiosity. Finding them 
too hard to separate, I drew the blade of my knife 
across the thick outer covering, having to use as much 
force as in opening an oyster. This shell grated 
against the blade like dried leather, and refused to be 
removed, so I with some awkwardness cut it quite in 
halves. The mangosteen is largely hollovv\ but right in 
its centre, clinging to the upper and inner terminus of the 
stem, were several little creamy-white sacks, which 
entered my mouth so quickly there was no time to 
think either of malaria or poison. But ah, it was like 
nectar ! The durian, at full ripeness, however, has a 
fragrance peculiarly its own, to which onions and gar- 



116 PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LA NDS, 

lie are roses in comparison. It also has a strong, 
spiky husk, and, should one happen your way, with 
only the force of its gravity from an overhanging 
bough, you would be surprised at its forcible impres- 
sion and the length of time you bear it in memory. 
Pepper, cinnamon, clove and nutmegs, are among the 
common exports here, and the rhododendron, pitcher 
plants and orchids smile upon you everywhere. 

The original people are the Dyaks and Malays. 
The Dyak is a little larger of the two, but though 
intelligent and truthful beyond many in our own land, 
they have little or no education, name the months 
as first, second, and so on, and measure hours by the 
sun's height from the horizon. Distances from Sarawak 
to points in the East are also measured by the same 
process, it taking the native the time indicated by the 
sun's position to travel to a given place. The Dyak 
expends little for clothing, the men using but a narrow 
waist-cloth of red or blue cotton, and the women seem 
content with something of a like nature, only descend- 
ing further towards their knees, but often as scant and 
as awkward an impediment to easy progress as that of 
their white sisters in America. The blow-tube and 
spear are still in use as weapons, and the bird or mon- 
key is generally doomed, if the tube is once raised to 
the mouth, or the javelin leaves the hand. But I am 
forgetting that my object is to merely outline, not to 
give a detailed account of my trip, so let us aboard 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 117 

and cross to the southwest. The monsoon is awaiting 
our coming, but struggles with us but a day. We pass 
three large islands, all uninhabited ; Point Varella; the 
Ass's Head; and are within loo miles of the equator. 
From my diary, I find that it was not the monsoon 
that most troubled me here, but no greater a thing 
than curry and rice, and that my Chinese servant was 
shocked at my persistence in refusing his much-prized 
peppery dish for his cunningly devised sweet meat. 

It was not long before the low-lying coast of Lower 
Siam and the Malay Peninsula rose, like a silver 
thread, on our starboard. Soon, by my glass, long 
lines of beautiful palms stood dimly out on the distant 
horizon. It Avas not long before our whole view 
changed to mirrored sea and graceful palms. The land 
seemed to have suddenly disappeared and left the 
trees bathed in deep water. The whole scene was of 
more than earthly beauty. For hours no change came 
except our steady approach to the equator. Now and 
then a canoe or collection of thatched huts peeped 
out from between the foliage, and soon a Malay boat 
bore slowly down upon us. We paid it no official 
attention. Other boats, long, graceful double-enders, 
laden to the gunwale with rare sea-shells and fruit, soon 
followed as fast as paddle and Malay muscle could 
propel them, but the quiet of sea and sky, amid the 
vast wealth of palms and forest verdure, drove hu- 
manity quite out of mind. Ah, here at last was quiet 



118 PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

and rest ! Here, when a school-boy we read, roamed 
the savage man-eating and cruel torturing pirate of a 
Malay. There, within a stone's throw, in gracefully- 
constructed boats, as pretty as the gondolas of Venice 
— and quite as black — with reddish-brown skins and 
attractive faces, sat their descendants. If those 
stories had been of the lower Chinese, they would 
have seemed more credible. I do not mean to inti- 
mate that we were unarmed. On every steamer, from 
Japan to Egypt, there was no end of breech-loading 
guns, cutlasses and small arms, and the wheel-house 
was always lined with them, but in all my trip in the 
Malay Archipelago they were scarcely given a thought. 
But on we went. Miles after miles of low coral 
islands to the southeast and the northeast, some below 
the surface of the water, and none much above it, 
seemed to grow before our fascinated vision. From 
Horseborough Light-House to Java there was little 
change, though southeast of Sumatra the groups 
appeared the most interesting. Not to dwell on these 
two islands, as they belong to the Dutch and are 
changing their exports, much tobacco being raised at 
the present time, I will merely say this, that the 
natives were most courteous and hospitable, and the 
resident Dutch so kind and painstaking that we 
seemed to be always at home. Most of the merchants 
and planters speak the English language with pleasing 
correctness, and many a time have we found the native 



I.V A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 119 

as amusingly proficient. Love for flowers and birds 
seems strong among the Javanese, and often while 
conversing, you will catch them feeding the chance 
bird or caressing the wayside flower. 

In due time we entered Malacca Strait, and made 
for the Malay shore until we reached the old Malay 
Singapore, now under the control of Governor General 
Weld of the English Government. For the first time 
since leaving San Francisco we ran up to a dock and 
were able to land without hiring a native boatman. 
Long, pointed boats, swiftly propelled by large paddles, 
followed us up the channel and displayed every variety 
of coral, sea-shell and fruit in so tempting an array, 
that we ached to buy them all. A village, built on 
poles, perched as if on stilts before us, and at high 
tide so separated from the woods around, that no 
wild beast could attack, reminded me of Borneo. The 
beaches were lined with canoes, which now and then 
shot out over the smooth water with the ease of a bird. 
The air was heavy with the fragrance of spice and 
flowers. A long, level road, skirting the water, seemed 
alive with little two-wheeled carts drawn by a yoke of 
small white cattle, guided by a native Malay in some 
such a way as we drive the horse. The cattle all had 
long, clear horns, which swept upward and backward, 
and then with graceful curve to the front again, just as 
if their natural tendency to grow straight forward had 
been regulated by a force to the rear. The yoke was 



120 PLEASANT HOURS IX SUNNY LANDS, 

tied to the horns, or placed between them and a prom- 
inent hump on the posterior part of the neck. 

The native, as lithe and as gracefully formed as a 
maiden, with long dark locks crowned by a long piece 
of colored cloth, arranged turban style, sat just behind 
his horned steeds grasping a pair of lines running out 
and attached to the nose of each animal. It was a 
strange sight. The Malay had nothing but a narrow 
cotton waist-cloth and an ear-ring for clothing, and as 
often as I saw them working on the road or transport- 
ing merchandise, it was hard to believe, on account of 
their girlish figures, that they were not women in dis- 
guise. Here I was, but half of my world journey 
accomplished, yet totally forgetful of the many long 
miles between me and home. As I look back, my 
gratitude, on thinking of the pleasure that this country 
and people so richly afforded me, is inexpressible. 
Wherever simplicity and honesty reigned, it was almost 
impossible to tear myself away. It was so refreshing 
from the so-called civilized life at home. 

What Sir James Brooke was to Borneo, Sir Stamford 
Raffles has been to Singapore, and as I walked down 
its long and pretty marine park, his recently erected 
statue gazing out over the magnificent sea and waving 
palms, was the first object to attract my attention. 
"Sinhapura," or ''Lion City," was first settled by the Ma- 
lay and Javanese, but was, for years, little better than the^ 
haven of South Sea pirates. Since the English have 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 121 

made it the capital of their Straits Settlements, its 
miles of pretty shore have been, utilized for extensive 
commerce. Just below me were the large docks of the 
P. and O. Steamship Co., and about the same distance 
from the New Harbor rose those of the Messageries 
Maritimes, the well-known French line. Besides these 
the Government own many also. The soil is a red 
clay, and as there are 169 rainy days during the year, 
we practically wore red shoes the whole stay. This was 
our only point of resemblance to the native, however. 
To present ourselves in a bright turban, a waist ribbon 
and one earring was too much for our courage. We had, 
too often, fought against prevailing style at home to wil- 
lingly yield here. The women are slender, graceful and 
entertaining — when you can understand them. Be- 
sides the short cotton skirt, they use bright plaids for 
a sack that can easily be drawn up whenever it is 
desired to protect or conceal the face or head. Long 
loops of gold and precious stones hang pendent from 
the prettiest of ears, and diagonally through the nose, 
full as pretty and symmetrical, pierce long golden orna- 
ments, often accompanied with a large ring of the same 
precious material, so that while her voice falls like the 
ripple of the wave, or the soft gush of a mountain 
brook, it does not overcome the tempting impulse of 
telling her she is nearly as vain as her white sister in 
the great, far West. But it would have been hard for 
even us so to believe, so we patiently forbore. Boys, 



122 PLEASAXT HOLERS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

as straight as arrows, were playing in the streets 
something like marbles and ball, but using a short 
stick instead of the usual sphere. 

Wishing to visit one of the many pineapple planta- 
tions, we were one day invited into the country, and, 
while observing the natives at work, it was observed that 
they would often stop, open a little bag, no larger than 
the usual purse, hanging at the waist, and take there- 
from a roll of delicate leaves resembling that of the 
mulberry, or the mulberry just beside the window at 
home, where I am now writing. Separating one from 
the rest, and taking from the same bag, a little tin or 
wooden box of a yellowish-white powder, which they 
transferred by the index finger in small quantities to 
the leaf, they quickly conveyed the whole into their 
capacious mouths. My host, observing my curiosity, 
thereupon opened his own mouth, and disclosed as 
pearly teeth as ever graced a woman ; but what was 
quite as noticeable was the unnatural redness of the 
gums and inner membrane of the entire cavity. With 
wide open mouth, he slowly raised his right hand in 
the direction of some tall, slender and uncommonly 
smooth palms in our vicinity, and smilingly observed 
**That he." I looked again. Large bunches of bright 
red berrv-like nuts clustered under the leaves fortv or 
fifty feet from the ground. It was the same frui: that 
had puzzled me on the Isthmus of Panama and in 
Borneo, but it was as plain now as the daylight. It 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 123 

was to them what tobacco is to the two-legged animals 
of the cud at home. It was the betel nut. The 
Malay, the Dyak, the Javanese and Sumatranese, the 
Bengalese and Madrasese, I never met without it. 

The pineapple here appears to be longer and finer 
than those sold in America, but the stocks are no 
higher or stronger than elsewhere. iVs in the case of 
the betel nut, I was thrice otherwise pleasantly sur- 
prised in this place. The first time I set foot on shore 
we went on a long stroll. Long rows of cocoanut 
palms, now and then a cabbage palm, and still more 
rarely the magnificent fan palm, shaded our way, while 
here and there, floating in the high air, clinging in 
some mysterious way, were large clouds of purple, 
pink, yellow, and white flowers. The gorgeous beauty 
of the flamboyant tree, with its diversity of color, vied 
with the pomella and jasmine, and all with the bright 
red soil and velvety green herbage. From one of these 
yellow flowers is obtained our much-prized ylang-ylang 
perfume. Now and then a gutta-percha tree, a pepper, 
a nutmeg, aloe, or cinnamon tree, made its presence 
known, and, on the whole, the numerous fruits and 
nuts were as strange as the slight, girlish forms of the 
people. I had long become too weary for further up- 
looking, when I espied a moderate-sized tree clothed 
in large, peculiarly-shaped leaves, something like that 
of the oak, though many times the size. Pendent 
from its branches were a large number of oblong, 



124 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

and a little rough, green masses of fruit, which had 
come in my way before, but had been classed among 
the great unknown. To my great pleasure, my guide 
explained **Much eat." It was one of the most cher- 
ished objects of my voyage. It was what with meat 
serves for a rich, mealy potato, what with bread and 
milk becomes a toothsome pudding. It was the bread- 
fruit of the Pacific, the cereal of many nations here. 
It w^as about the size of a child's head, and, were it 
not for the strange leaf, it would with great difficulty 
be distinguished from the large orange called the 
pomella, which equals the bread-fruit in size, but is in 
one variety more yellow inside, and in another a bright 
pink. 

But let us to town. A broad drive or walk skirts 
the water for several miles. You pass two cemeteries 
with low monuments of round disks placed one above 
the other, or rectangular slabs inlaid with another of 
lighter and different material. Chinese joss-houses, 
Mahomedan mosques, and Pagan temples, streets 
muddy red, in which you must join the crowd if you 
will walk, for what seems like a narrow sidewalk is but 
the front of the native houses and workshops. But 
after being forced to join in with a funeral, a picnic 
party, and a religious procession, I decided, as my 
only way to a less exciting life, to try this covered side- 
walk, if allowed. It was less muddy but, if possible, 
more crowded, so I had to walk sideways to make any 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 125 

headway, but the long rows of pomellas, melons, limes, 
pineapples, mangosteens, lichee, cocoanuts, custard 
apples, rambutan, duku, tapioca, beans, indigo, nut- 
megs, aloes, and every sort of trade in process, made 
it equally valuable and interesting. From temple to 
pagoda, from pagoda to mosque, no one disturbed my 
wanderings. Among the pleasant things about the 
Malay is the reproduction of natural objects in what- 
ever he constructs for use or ornament. On the walls 
of his temples, one after another, in bare outline, rises 
the body, neck and horned head of his bellowing steed, 
and in the hands of the boatman or canoe man lies a 
palmleaf-shaped paddle, while his varied store of 
household goods and utensils interestingly increase the 
comparison. 

The English here publish two or three papers, the Ma- 
lay and Chinese one each. There is a public library and 
a large number of public hotels and churches, of which 
the Cathedral of St. Andrew, built in 1861, and located 
in large and well-shaded grounds opposite the park, is 
the neatest and most attractive. Quite near is a stone 
monument surmounted by a reddish-brown elephant, 
containing a tablet announcing the fact that it com- 
memorates the first foreign trip of the King of Siam. 
The Chinese have many elaborate and even magnifi- 
cent homes and grounds, many of them built with 
marble and porcelain tiles, on which are inscriptions 
of flowers, historical and pastoral scenes, the 



126 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

whole serving pretty much the same purpose as stone 
trimmings or marble in one of our modern brick 
edifices. The money-broker I found everywhere, 
tramping from place to place, from vessel to vessel, 
with a queer assortment of change in his long linen 
bag, and queerer ideas of business and gain in his red 
beturbaned head. Japanese yens would slide through 
his fingers at 2 rupees, 5 annas, and narrow silver bars, 
duly stamped with heathen hieroglyphics, rolled as 
swiftly away at 4 Rs, 5. It will not be the man's 
fault if he does not soon own the empire. Away he 
plies his nimble paddle, first on one side, then on that, 
till his sharp-pointed canoe seems to skim like a swal- 
low over the wave, while his humble brother and the 
Chinese cooley get but 1-2 anna per basket for the 
coal, swung on their shoulders from a bamboo, they 
are hurriedly carrying on board. 

For $2.00 we could purchase a whole dug-out full of 
pretty shells and coral. It is incredible how large 
some of these shells are. Were they capable of 
floating Hke wood, the naked little urchins about us 
would never have taken the trouble to burn out their 
present little sea-crafts. Here, as we are casting off to 
sail again, a score of these bright little fellows dance 
around in their light boats, calling out, ^^ Sahib, Sarb, 
mister, say. One penny?" Or sitting patiently in. 
hopes the penny may, perchance, come as a reward for 
good conduct. There they sit or rest on their knees, 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 127 

their little bare feet upturned to the sun's hot rays, 
and as white as your own, though the rest of their bare 
bodies are like bronze. Let a penny or a dime be 
swiftly hurled down to the sea, and presto ! a score of 
heels suddenly fly up high in the air, leaving a lot of 
little boats and paddles floating helplessly away with 
the strong tide, and not a ripple left to tell of the 
whereabouts of the once merry group, now deep be- 
neath the wave. You become annoyed, anxious, in 
fact, and are about to feel sad that you had encouraged 
their perilous sport, when up pops a forlorn-looking 
head, followed by blinking eyes and sneezing nose. 
Another, then another, till you count, with a long 
breath, the whole group together again. One has 
your penny tight between his glistening ivories, while 
he tries to give thanks and gain his fast vanishing boat 
at the same time. Up they climb, and with one roll 
they are inside again, and begin kicking or shoving 
their feet forward to expel the water, which, if very 
deep, is hastened by forcing the whole seated body 
pop-gun style, from end to end. As their Uthe forms 
closely fit their pigmy boats, it works like a charm, but 
it is to be seriously hoped that the impinging surface 
is always smooth. 

After turning over to a Sikh guard a large quantity 
of silver coin, we stood out into the channel, and had 
soon bid adieu to the joy of a lifetime in the fast 
retreating shores. Black fish, porpoise, shark, and 



128 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

cockroaches as large and abundant as mice, came 
around, as if to darken the memory of my past bright 
experience, till we reached Malacca. This is so like 
other Siamese places, we will not dwell. On leaving 
here we came to One Fathom Lio;ht, miles from shore, 
and then to Wellesley, with its grand cocoanut palms 
and magnificent plantations running down to the 
\vater's edge, and noble hills in the background. Fish 
weirs of bamboo, stretching out to the very channel, 
look like so manv wrecked Malav boats. With a boom 
from our guns, we are at Penang. 

An old fort, Dutch in appearance, lies low on a nar- 
row level point, near which is the signal station. With 
my glass, away in the wooded mountainous interior, 
could be seen a shimmer of light from a high water- 
fall. As in holiday attire, in bright red, yellow and 
purple strips of cloth, dress-like wound about their 
waists, men, women and children flocked to our side. 
The Governor's yacht was close at hand, and both he 
and his secretary came into full view. We attended 
the national games, mostly athletic, upon the public 
common, and found several English and Scotch young 
men joining in the sport. Quite near is the Edinbor- 
ough House, called after the Duke, who was here a 
few years ago and occupied it. The town seems quite 
flat, but is well shaded and ornamented with both palm 
and fern. Government schools, both for natives and 



IjV A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 129 

foreigners, are here established, and English, French, 
German, Dutch and Indian vessels fill the harbor. 

Wishing to see the interior of the country, which is 
as unbroken and full of wild animals as ever, an officer 
and I, taking " Beauty," who had cUmbed upon the 
rail and was making day hideous by fiercely barking at 
the native longshoremen unloading the vessel, hired a 
gharrey, a fight cab with a small pony, to carry us as 
far as the road extended. It soon began to rain, a 
daily occurrence there, and the little animal began 
to suddenly stop now and then, and, vigorously 
shaking his shaggy mane, refuse all entreaties of his 
native master to go on. When he felt the rain sub- 
siding, up popped his wild little head, as if saying 
^' Ready, well then, just see me whiz!" he would 
nearly jerk our life out over the stony way. Passing 
the neat dwellings of foreign merchants, our way led 
through groves of cocoanut palms, with their heavy 
bunches of fruit ninety to one hundred and twenty 
feet high in some places, down to fifty or sixty in 
others, and native thatched huts interspersed between. 
Deep cuts, three feet apart, ran up the palm's smooth 
trunk, for native toes to climb in, when hunger or the 
desire of gain became sufficiently strong to excite his 
lazy limbs to action. 

But at last the road came to an end, and telUng the 
man to await our return, we posted off into the forest. 
Heavily laden ox-carts, coming from a neighboring 



130 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

quarry, were the first to greet us. Then a Httle boy 
and girl, with the innocence of childhood, ran and 
trotted along after us, despite the curling lip and 
marked sarcastic smile on the broad face of our quad- 
ruped guard. It made me tremble lest they should 
take it into their little heads to run along in advance, 
for, in the absence of all clothing, and the presence of 
a wicked idea in "' Beauty's " busy mind, a serious dis- 
figurement, if not dismemberment, would surely follow. 
A few pennies, surreptitiously thrown into their midst, 
had the desired effect of turning their curiosity to a 
safer channel and putting a stop to their advance. After 
a long tramp under our umbrellas, we reached a grad- 
ually ascending slope, containing nearly all the rare 
shrubs and trees of tropical growth. The rain tree 
which showers from its overhanging branches a grateful 
fall of rain, the traveller tree with its mighty fan-like 
leaves radiating from a common centre, and containing 
a quart of precious liquid for the thirsty traveller, the 
banyan, the areca or betel nut from which the name 
Penang arises, pepper, nutmeg and many other inter- 
esting trees grew side by side. The sensitive plant, 
with its little fuzzy pink blossom, crept everywhere 
under foot, and the maiden-hair fern cropped out 
everywhere. While resting after the shower, before 
undertaking an ascent of from 2,500 to 3,000 feet, I put 
my hand upon a small tree at my side for support. It 
was withdrawn most quickly, for I felt a host of many- 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 131 

legged insects at work on my arm. Freeing myself, a 
large nest of ants was discovered perched high among 
its branches. We had become accustomed to high- 
peaked ant hills on the ground, but were unprepared 
to find that all about us they had preempted the tree 
tops. 

On setting out again, we observed " Beauty " suddenly 
prick up his cropped ears and wag his apology for a tail. 
His bow legs stamped the ground with amusing ear- 
nestness. We had come to a deep ravine sheltered by 
tall trees and luxuriant undergrowth, from which the 
dash and splash of water could be plainly heard. 
Neither the officer or myself had been on this mountain 
before, and were equally at loss to understand the 
sudden activity of our usually taciturn companion. We 
continued toiling up the steep slope, when, so suddenly 
as to make my heart leap, with a yelp, and a bound that 
sent the gravel flying like hot canister into our very 
faces, the bull-dog tore along up the mountain like 
mad. He had smelt game, that was sure. Then came 
a heavy fusilade from above, followed by a half-angry 
and half-frightened squeaking, that forced us both to 
laugh outright. This, then, was the free realm of 
harmless Jocko. We had heard, some little while 
before, of the presence of a tiger prowling in the 
neighborhood, and knowing the spirit of the dog, it 
had at first flashed across my mind that '* Beauty '* had 
made for him single-handed and alone. The cries 



182 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUXNY LANDS, 

grew louder and more frequent, as we hurried on. 
High branches and tree tops were swaying up and 
down as the nimble monkeys swung away from reach 
of harm, and slowly crawled along the larger limbs the 
scowling ape. Some, more bold than the rest, re- 
mained quiet behind a friendly bush or limb, and cun- 
ningly winked at us as we passed. The dog had stopped 
at the foot of a large tree and stood upright on his 
hind feet, baffled and disappointed. Not far in advance 
sat a large white baboon, the largest and the only 
white one I ever saw. Although a foe, it seemed 
as oblivious of the nearness of the dog, as " Beauty " 
seemed of him. We stood still, in fear that we should 
precipitate a rout, if not an engagement, but it was 
useless. On dropping on all-fours again, the broad- 
faced pup quickly espied his game, and, with bound 
and growl, descended upon it like a thunderbolt. He 
was too late, however. When he reached the ravine, 
the ape had slowly but surely swung out over and 
across, and being able neither to stop or leap the 
chasm — and if he ever had a choice, it w^as not like a 
bull-dog not to firmly seize and hold on to it — heels 
over head plunged the canine into the seething water 
below. 

Actuated by kind feelings towards the brute, and 
not a little regard for our own welfare, for if it were 
discovered that we were responsible for his carcass 
running into the water pipe of the settlement a few 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 133 

hundred feet below, and thus depriving the warm and 
thirsty people of their only water supply for weeks, 
perhaps, and if his body became swollen, as it certainly 
would be, for months probably, we hastily made for 
the brink and looked down. It was an awful fall, my 
patient reader, but was it not an awful brute that had 
it? There, quietly seated on a large flat stone, his 
coat dripping wet, and a determined expression upon 
his not over-lovely countenance, was the object of our 
solicitude, looking straight up into our faces. Whether 
he was saying, '' Did you kick me, sir ? " or, " I'll fix 
you for this ! " or not, we somehow regarded the look as 
ominous, and easing our consciences with the thought 
that his ingenuity was equal to an escape, and a shrill 
whistle, w^e departed. Near was a Malay joss-house, 
where we found a young man and maiden passing 
through a ceremony we understood was that of mar- 
riage. A large round rock, with a flat surface, had a 
fire thereon, and by its side some flowers and cakes, 
while a pair of gigantic brogans rested at its base. 
We were offered some cakes and fruit, and they went 
on their way rejoicing, while we still kept on until the 
old fort below, built in 1790, seemed a mere figure in 
the sand, and the large ocean steamers upon the water 
like toys. We had penetrated the wilds for miles, and 
ascended 2,800 feet or more on the mountains, so 
felt we had experienced enough to return. Not to 
speak of our frights and accidents, suffice it to say that 



134 PLEASANT HOURS IX SUNNY LANDS, 



we reached the steamer in time to see the Klings en- 
gaged in holiday games, and to hear that they could 
not be hired to work unloading the tea-oil. betel nut, 
and other cargo, until the holiday was over, as it is 
their only Sabbath or day of rest. 

The native boats are borne along by paddles and 
oars, the latter of which are shaped like a round leaf 
tied to a long pole. The row-boats have painted, each 
side of their prow, large white or blue eyes made to 
resemble a fish. On each side of the Straits are miles 
of cocoanut-bearing palms, and large steamers are seen 
at anchor surrounded by native boats piled high with 
the nuts, which are constantly tossing from one to 
another till they reach the vessel's hold. The last of 
our pickled olives and Japanese apples were put on 
shore, and Governor- General Weld bid us adieu. We 
are told that his salary is $30,000 a year. He is to be 
succeeded by Smith of Ceylon. He has a pretty cor- 
vette, which carries several guns, close by. Our last 
thing w^as to take on some ice, which we got for $40 
per ton. Pimento, allspice and the clove linger in my 
memory as I think of this, another fairy land, spices 
mingling with the mist of the 250 feet of mountain 
cataract far from the abode of man. 

Glad to rid ourselves of the Chinese, who had 
reached the scenes of their next year's life, we were 
soon under way for Burmah, and then Calcutta, about 
1,350 miles to the northwest. A shower followed us 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 135 

out into the Indian Ocean, and left us with a triple 
rainbow, impossible of description, so interwoven it 
became with the magnificent sylvan view of the Lower 
Siam coast. This was followed, in two days, by a hur- 
ricane, when we came to the Nicobar Islands. Here 
flint is still in use for axes and knives, and everything 
primitive. Here we met the Indo-China Steamship 
" Wing Sing." I now had a grand chance to study 
Indian life and human nature, for with the Chinese, all 
noise and confusion had ceased. A fair white-lady, with 
a little girl with long, bright ringlets, often joined me in 
conversation. They w^ere queerly dressed and wore 
their hair parted low on the side. 

There was a sickly white from Northwestern Hin- 
dostan, accompanied by a Malay wife of unusual 
beauty and timidity, and a little six-year-old boy, 
always in nature's own scant robes. A little gold ring 
in his left ear, and a charm of some sort on his left 
arm above his elbow, was his fullest dress, even to 
visitors, but never was a merrier child at sea or one on 
which a mother gazed more fondly. The father, seated 
on the deck with four or five companions in a circle, 
around a long, artistic pipe, half wood, half metal, with 
a long stem, which was passed from one to the other 
for a single whiff, seemed equally happy. This custom 
is common in India and Turkey. Several Siamese, 
with flower and vine-figured dress and turban, are 
going to Calcutta to dispose of their pouches of pre- 



136 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

cious stones. Bright purples, blues, yellows, and red 
plaids flutter hither and thither as the men and women, 
so much alike in dress as to be almost indistinguishable 
unless you look up into their faces, flit nimbly by. 
Two Sikhs from Northwestern India are going home 
on a furlough, seven feet tall and with a form like 
Apollo. These are the famous Sepoys of the native 
Eng:lish arm v. 

One day we stopped to take two elephants, worth 
about $4,000, aboard. They were brought out in large 
native boats, but when alongside, the captain was at a 
loss how to load them. We rode high, and there was 
no way for the unwieldly animals to crawl into the 
port-holes. It seemed a dangerous as well as difficult 
undertaking. At first, the captain refused to under- 
take the loading, but, as the keeper was willing to save 
the company harmless from the result should it prove 
disastrous, he finally consented, first obtaining a writ- 
ing from the owner to that effect. Bands of strong 
material were wound around the huge body of one of 
the animals, ropes attached, run through strong tackle, 
and the word given for the engine to start slowly. 
Just as soon as it cleared the native boat, it began to 
struggle and snort, and had to be lowered. Again the 
attempt was made, with like result. It was painfully 
evident that if the attempt were to be persisted in, 
some calamity would surely happen, if not to beast, 
to natives flocking around. A bullock can easily be 



IiV A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 137 

hoisted by the horns, the powerful Roman horse in an 
iron-bound car, but the elephant is usually made to 
either walk or crawl in. Yet the owner insisted it 
could be done. Other bands were made, and with 
determined faces the signal to start was again given. 
As before, the powerful brute began to struggle, but 
less and less as it rose in the air, until not at all on 
the quick descent. The keeper and his attendants 
stood quietly by until the unfortunate creature came 
to the deck and with a few feeble struggles and gasps 
gave up its life, then throwing up their arms in fright- 
ful grief and rage, they loudly cursed us all 

Suffice it to say that the other animal went back to 
shore, and the poor, helpless carcass of his unfortu- 
nate companion went over the vessel's side, and we 
went sadly on. We had not gone far before we nearly 
ran into another waterspout, but we escaped the deluge 
only to fall into the hands of a full-grown cyclone, 
which sent us to Rangoon for safety. Burmah is very 
level here, with greyish soil, except in places, where it 
is more hilly, then it is red. Nothing in this attractive 
city, or in the whole country, in fact, interested me so 
much as the activity of its women, who, as' in some 
French cities, seemed to possess all the intelligence, 
courtesy and brain of the place. Meeting several 
officers of the English army stationed there, my time 
was most profitably spent, but was soon on my way to 
Calcutta, the '' City of Palaces,'' as it is there called. 



138 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

The Burmese, Siamese, and Anamese, as far as my 
observation has gone, bear a resemblance to a mixed 
Chinese and Malay stock, and all dress in the brightest 
of reds, yellows, purples, and blues, in styles of vine 
tracery, flov/ers, and object design that would set an 
American girl wild. All wear a scant half dress, if 
anything at all, and if there is such a thing as trousers 
they must be a very abridged edition, and known only 
to a small part of the female class. They sleep, like 
their Northern near neighbors, on straw and reed 
mats, with a block of wood, sometimes constructed 
with a groove, for a pillow. Sometimes this pillow is 
made of leather and ornamented, and mats are found 
of quilted cloth, and in China, in addition to these, 
sleeping bags, or brightly-colored sacks, were seen. 

John and his companions may be seen at all hours 
of the day reclining on his floor mat, with a tea urn, 
several tiny teacups, and some sort of cake or eatable 
on the floor by his side. Their language or tone is 
more uniform than that of Chinamen. The latter are 
amusingly peculiar in tone and inflection, and you must 
keep out of sight, as from a frog pond when curiosity 
or amusement leads one to draw near, if you wish to 
listen to a genuine colloquy, and to which, in fact, it 
bears closer resemblance than anything else I can 
imagine. It certainly is a satisfactory illustration of 
their dialectic voicing. 

Their musical instruments, and tones as well, so far 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 139 

exceed the wildest imagination, one must see and hear 
— and go mad — to form the faintest idea. The first 
Japanese music I listened to was on the streets of 
Tokio, and was well rendered by one male and one 
female voice, accompanied with two instruments similar 
to the guitar. The first Chinese effort in that line and 
in their native land, was from a group — call it orches- 
tra if you will — consisting of two men, each with some- 
thing like a long, crook-necked squash made of wood, 
with two strings running from top to bottom, and 
within a light frame, which we will, for want of a name, 
call a bow ; another man with a large, round disk of 
prepared skin fastened to a wooden frame, v/hich, seen 
elsewhere, would have been nameless — call it a banjo 
• — and still another John with a tripod, bearing on its 
top a helmet-like metallic cone, with a protuberant, 
hollow wooden box. The only other participant was 
a celestial maiden of 17 years or so. When the music 
began, it was at a signal from the man at the metallic 
cone, who commenced tapping first the metal then the 
wooden box with a pair of sticks held between his 
fingers. Miss John thereupon jumped to her feet, 
with her chin prominently elevated. Another tap, and 
all went in for all they were worth. String rasped and 
screeched in highest key and most discordant tones, 
banjo trummed and dummed, as only a loose drum- 
head can. The tripod gave alternate sounds of uncer- 
tain click and dub, and amid the wild din and jargon, 



140 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

rose the female voice in high, discordant yelps. Noth- 
ing in my after experience even approximated to its 
weird effect, unless, perhaps, the midnight cry of the 
India jackals. 

*'If music is the food of love, play on ! " 

We were surprised early one morning by low-lying 
islands hundreds of miles out, one of which possessed 
a lighthouse. From the chart we found them the 
Andaman group. A steamer with government supplies 
w^as winding its devious way, and seemed the only sign 
of human life, yet palms, here and there, nodded their 
shaggy heads, and we were told they were covered 
with valuable timber and dye-woods. It had surprised 
me, when in Anam and southern China, to find the 
country so destitute of the magnificent forests found in 
the same latitude in Central and South America, but 
altitude and climatic differences probably are respon- 
sible for this. 

Away south, above the Indian Ocean, the sun, inter- 
rupting, is building a massive arch of color, while, as 
from the dark storm-clouds, a wild sea fowl flutters 
down upon an isolated davit directly before our eyes. 
In my pleasure, I pointed it out to a Philippine 
Islander, who was one of the quartermasters. He ran 
quickly from the bridge where we were seated, to the 
bows, and silently creeping beneath the unconscious 
bird, with a quick and high bound, grasped it by the 



IjV A TOUR A RO VXD THE WORLD. \\\ 

leg. It seemed cruel to take advantage of even an 
animal while seeking protection, but without a second 
thought, he had quickly returned, wringing its neck on 
the way, and presented the lifeless body at our feet. 
The constant warfare between man and the dangerous 
wild beasts here in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and the 
Malay Peninsula tends to keep the natives unmerciful 
toward all wild creatures. The ape, ourang-outang, 
a species of wild elephant, panther, tiger, and rhinoc- 
eros infest all these countries, the only difference 
between the latter being two horns upon the Sumatran 
instead of the usual one. 

For some days, while crossing the Bay of Bengal, we 
w^ere constantly uplifted by an irresistible southern 
swell, indicating cyclones far south in the Indian 
Ocean. Twice a day the heavens were adorned with 
the brightest rainbows, and the broad, golden path of 
the rising sun was hardly less beautiful than the silver 
pathway of the full evening moon. It was now that I 
applied myself more diligently to the study of the 
Hindostanee, so that I might not be entirely dependent 
in mid-India. Spanish had been my aid in the coun- 
tries and islands south of the United States, and 
French, English, and pigeon Japanese and Chinese, to 
the present, but in the immense country I was ap- 
proaching, if I journeyed far inland, it seemed neces- 
sary for me to master a little of the language. After 
the study of Hebrew and Sanscrit, such a language 



142 PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

comes pleasantly, and the peculiar position of the qual- 
ifying words, alone, seemed unusual or strange. 

At 4 A. M. of the day of our arrival, we were met 
by a fine, trim -looking brig, containing Mr. Lindquist, 
our pilot, and soon saw the low coast of Hindostan, 
hardly distinguished from the sea. Two hours after, 
we were off the first lighthouse, on our starboard, 
where w^e put up our signals to announce our arrival, 
which information was immediately sent miles up the 
river to Calcutta. When up a short distance, we passed 
the SS. Port Jackson, from Melbourne, with her two 
decks crowded with horses. We then signalled again 
to what seemed an old castle, but what really was a 
government station and magazine. We were then near 
the southern shore, which for miles inland lay flat and 
nearly on a level with the river. It is dangerous to 
life, and seas have often swept across this plain, carry- 
ing ever}^thing living and movable, even to the strong, 
granite signal stations, helplessly before it. As I write, 
it is as green and fertile in rice fields as Japan, being 
all alluvial soil brought down by the river from the 
heights miles above. These immense flats constitute, 
with those on our starboard, the delta of the Ganges, 
the sacred river of the Hindoo. It is a pity the river 
is no cleaner, for a religious stream should be pure, 
if nothing else, but here on my right is a poor, little, 
white cow floating out to sea, its poor, swollen body 
begging for burial. The Hindoo kills no cow or bul- 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 143 

lock, nor buries them. He does not always bury his 
family or relatives, but often packs them off in a field 
or on a high scaffold, as they do in Borneo. 

Following after the cow is an object so human 
that you will believe the stories of the early English 
settlers in this country, who had to use and often 
drink this dirty water, and who often pulled up 
in their buckets all that is mortal of a dark-skinned 
infant. It is fast going out of practice, however, 
for the English magistrate before Lord Ripon's 
day, set his foot down w^ith an emphasis the native 
dared not misunderstand. Lord Ripon's memory is 
more grateful to the native than to the English here, 
for he made the innovation of having native cases 
brought before native magistrates, a policy which can 
work no harm and a great deal of good, as long as 
honorable men fill those positions. Along the banks 
are tall weeds and feather grass waving in the breeze, 
and, now and then, clumps of something that resem- 
ble the willows-tree diversify the low inland view. 
Soon native huts, with long, canoe-shaped roofs, 
covered with seecf and grass thatch, appear near 
the shore. Hundreds of long-horned cattle are peace- 
fully feeding in fields dotted here and there with high 
stacks of rice, straw and hay. In fact, going up upon 
the tide, is something so like one of these stacks, that 
it is not until you get opposite and see a long, dark 
form perched on its top and grasping a long steering 



144 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

oar, that you perceive that it is controlled by a boat 
beneath. A British-India steamship, followed by one 
of the Austrian Lloyds, was then passed, and we began 
to see more of the vast agricultural system of the 
country. Solid monuments marked the irrigation com- 
pany's boundaries, and cotton, oil and indigo began to 
appear in vast quantities. 

Leaving the mail at Diamond Harbor, 30 miles 
below Calcutta, with which it is now connected by 
rail, we passed on once more up the stream's tortuous 
channel. Daily bulletins are required from and to 
every pilot navigating a vessel through, as quicksands 
and changing bottom constantly threaten the navi- 
gator with destruction. At the James and Mary, we 
passed a British-India steamship, with nothing but the 
top of her masts visible, having gone down by running 
into quicksand that was supposed to be far above. 
Quite near is a Hindoo village, consisting of the long, 
haystack-looking huts, with low doorways, hardly any 
window^s and no chimneys. Conspicuous in its midst, 
however, is a much higher edifice, with large dome and 
several spires, apparently of stone construction. This 
is the first Hindoo temple on native soil, brought to 
my notice. It is quite at the river's edge, with a grand 
expanse of green rice fields extending miles into the 
interior. As I look at the people and then at the 
sunken steamship, with its undisturbed cargo, it is 
with wonder that they do not all turn wreckers, but 



I.V A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 145 

superstition here has often greater protective influence 
than force of arms, even. It is strengthened, in this 
case, perhaps, by the fact that a companion boat of this 
line, a short time before, was caught near the mouth 
of the river in a cyclone and went down with a loss of 
750 lives. 

Directly in front of us, is a small steamer, with a 
broad, double-decked flat boat on each side. They 
are full of merchandise from these rich fields, but like 
a trio on our city sidewalks, if you wish very much to 
hasten, the slimness of the man or the breadth of his 
two female companions hardly afford the necessary 
patience for a stoppage in transitu. Reeds, feather- 
grass, cotton and sugar-cane, gracefully waving to and 
fro^ are now becoming more abundant. Native dinghys, 
like a lance-shaped leaf folded longitudinally, shoot up 
the turbid stream, while to the right, with joy the stars 
and stripes of the " El Capitan," the " Granger," of 
Boston, and three other vessels, moored off a cotton 
factory, are discovered. If memory serves me, these 
were the first vessels under our flag met between Hong 
Kong and Hindostan, but it was sufficient for the pilot 
to remark, " The finest sailing-ships in our waters used 
to hail from the United States, but times have greatly 
changed since I came here, 40 years ago." They 
were noble looking boats, as few as they were, so the 
point of his statement was somewhat blunted. As I 
write, the " Farragut," of Boston, one of the largest 



146 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

sailing vessels in the Boston and Calcutta trade, has 
been so long on her return voyage as to excite great 
fears of her safety. She has probably met the cyclone 
of the Indian Ocean, so fatal to shipping. On the 
Southern bank, we now came to large pyramidal 
mounds of brick, which were awaiting shipment, indi- 
cating an industry of large proportions. For miles 
they were constantly in sight. Soon substantial resi- 
dences came in view, the tops of the Botanical Garden 
on the left and the Zoological Garden on the right. 
Next, a native with a long wand, from one of several 
neighboring roofs, aroused countless pigeons to the 
great annoyance of a large bear nervously walking his 
cage in a corner of the grounds, and several other ani- 
mals scattered along the bank. A high, open-work 
fence surrounded this group of attractive residences, 
which appeared to be Government buildings. 

Here is kept the King of Oudh, whose realm was on 

the Ganges, just northeast of Benares, w^hich included 

historic Lucknow, and contained more rural population 

than any other proportionate part of the world. An 

annuity of 12 lakhs of rupees was, some thirty years 

ago, settled upon him for the loss of his province, but 

as he refused to sign desired papers, he was brought 

down to this remote spot, where he is supposed, for 

want of other employment, to rule over his hundred or 

more wives. A hard task, no doubt, but probably 

much needed. Needless to state, that with him ex- 



lA^ A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 147 

pires the title, and all government aid to his household. 
Wajid Ali Shah is no lono;er a young man. In a very 
few years he will be gathered to his fathers. 

As on we slowly passed, we saw the ship " W. H. 
Lincoln,'' of Boston, lying at her moorings, and Fort 
William, with its fine green lawn, just beyond. Next 
in view came the large Court House and Municipal 
Building, and the Maidan and Dalhousie Park with 
its drives, walks, bath and statues. Suddenly a bird 
settles down upon the rigging. Another and another 
follows, until their presence and occasional "caw'' are 
annoying. The sky seemed thick with them, and as 
one boldly walked up and nodded to me from the rail, 
on inspection I found him very similar but less black 
than our crow, and with a light-brown ring about his 
neck. But like the buzzards of America, how can they 
tolerate them ! In the interior, you will, with alarm, 
suddenly come across a long-legged, large-bodied and 
big-mouthed creature which you may surprise, seated 
with his pipe-stem legs stuck grotesquely out before 
him j or which may meet you, if you are small and 
timid, with his long bill wide open, as if just eager for 
business. This is the adjutant or gigantic crane, like 
the raven, sacred here, and which, with the midnight 
jackal, feed on carrion and do good service as scaven- 
gers of the streets and streams. 

But here we are at last, within thirty feet from the 
ghaut or landing, moored to two immense iron buoys 



148 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

by chain cables. If we go ashore we must signal and 
hire some of the many native boats, which by the hun- 
dreds line the shore. It is done, and one with a high 
awning is quickly alongside. You must be careful, or 
a misstep will cost you your life, for the undertow is so 
strong that expert natives often lose their lives here, in 
full view of hundreds. Once on the paved bank, I 
turned to the Hindoo and gave him a silver rupee, 
whereupon he carefully counted out and handed back 
a full rupee in change. This left me as much in doubt 
as before as to what fee he should receive, so I gave 
him some annas and left him perfectly satisfied, a thing 
that rarely happens in England or America. Another 
thing I noticed, a few minutes later, while passing along 
the crowded streets, that the native touched his cap or 
turban and courteously stepped aside for me to pass. 

Tall men, whose swarthy bodies were bare of cloth- 
ing, except a yard of striped cotton cloth gathered 
around the waist and reaching to the knees, with large 
goat-skin bottles strapped to their backs, trotted along 
whisking before them the cooling spray alike on parched 
earth and thirsty man. It was nearly evening, and the 
Maidan was fast filling with English and European 
turnouts. It was not long before it became a veritable 
Hyde Park, where all London delights to take an airing. 
Many a time I have sat on the iron chairs at Hyde 
Park Corner, and watched both horsemen and equi- 
page, the Princess of Wales and family, and others of 



lA^ A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 149 

like note, but the scene cannot begin to compare with 
the Maidan, with the soft, fleecy softness of the eastern 
dress, and the rich reds, purples, and blues, of the 
native costume. In fact, the symmetry of form and 
loveliness of feature among the women and children, 
and often men, of India are remarkable. How much 
this has to do with the practice of keeping the wife in 
seclusion at home, or in hot, stuffy palanquins when 
traveling, is problematical. But as this is generally 
confined to the upper classes and caste, and, in fact, 
is slowly going out of practice even among them, there 
is no great obstacle to a general study of them all. 

This general seclusion of the women has, of late, 
given rise to many interesting social and moral ques- 
tions. The European and American female physician, 
clergyman, and missionary, with the idea that medical 
science and the Christian religion would add to the 
welfare and happiness of this apparently isolated sex, 
have zealously worked against this strong caste cus- 
tom until, in some instances, they have gained way to 
their presence. 

Closely connected with this seclusion is the custom 
of infant marriage. From the time of Manu, some 
three thousand years ago, it has been the custom, as a 
part of the Zenana system, to early choose a child-wife 
for each male youth. Neither can then realize either 
the duties or responsibilities of their true relations, 
and are kept apart for years, and constantly taught. 



150 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

meanwhile, to love each other, pretty much as we 
encourage our children to treat each other kindly. 
To this is added the idea of mutual duty. Thus, it 
would seem the sense of duty would be more active 
than the emotion of love in finally drawing the pair 
together. Yet, there is an inner beauty to this system 
of marital teaching. It leads the infant mind and 
heart to love, honor, obey, and perform all those little 
acts and offices that, when sincerely and gently done, 
make man's life and the lives of his children attractive 
and lovely. Thus, when the awakening to a realiza- 
tion of their true relation dawns, the early training 
towards duty makes infidelity, separation and divorce, 
that fast-growing hydra of modern society, next to 
impossible. 

The Zenana system teaches the wife that home, not 
the street, flirtation and gossip ; that her husband, 
and his children, not those of any man she may happen 
to fancy more, need and claim her undivided time and 
attention, her kind and gentle ministration, and her 
hourly love. PeacS and harmony thus prevail in the 
humblest home. There is no seeking to become con- 
spicuous in conversation, dress, or public office ; no 
craving after ijnmediate acquaintance with every male 
stranger that appears well dressed or drives a fast 
horse. Modesty, purity, and gentle sincerity make her 
the idol of her home, a creature worthy of her hus- 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 151 

band and her Maker, and often a model for the very 
men and women sent to convert her. 

As might be imagined, the first thing next to ascer- 
taining the whereabouts of Lord Dufferin, who at the 
time was the Governor General, at a salary of $125,000, 
search was made for the Black Hole, where, according 
to Mr. Holwell, on June 20, 1756, one hundred and 
forty-six persons were driven, by the command of the 
Nawab of Bengal, into the guard-room of Fort William, 
a place hardly twenty feet square, and with but two 
small windows, and all but twenty three perished be- 
fore the next morning. Mr. Holwell was one of these 
survivors. I have called it the guard-room of old 
Fort William, though it is my own conclusion, drawn 
from these facts. To my inquiries as to the location 
of the Hole, I was told by several that it was located 
on the spot of a certain government building, and by 
others that it was enclosed in Fort William. , As the 
present Fort William was not constructed until after 
1756, and by Col. Clive, who had come up from 
Madras to punish the natives, and that, too, farther 
down the stream, and as, also, there was, at the time 
of the massacre, an old Fort William where now the 
custom-house and other government buildings stand, 
my conclusion was that the spot is now beneath the 
latter buildings or warehouse, and not some distance 
down the stream, within the present fort. 

Of course, the disappointment is always unpleasant 



152 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

in not finding the identical thing you seek, but mem- 
ory brings up a like experience in hunting for the 
Bastile on my first visit to Paris. Up and down, and 
down and up, the fruitless search went on, until it 
suddenly flashed across my mind that, possibly, it had 
never been rebuilt after its overthrow by the Com- 
mune. On this theory, the old site lay right before 
my eyes all the time in the Place de Bastile. My 
theory was right there ; I believe it right in regard to 
the Black Hole of Calcutta, now. The Government 
House, the official residence of Lord iDufferin, is oppo- 
site the Park, and clearly in view. Lord Dufferin and 
lady are deservedly popular here from their many 
reforms and kind and benevolent deeds. Horse-cars 
run through a portion of the city, the fare being so 
many pice, a copper coin of less value than the silver 
anna. The European quarter is now well marked 
from the thatched huts of the native population, and 
many of the causes of malaria, once so prevalent, are 
effectually removed. 

As I pass along the streets, many scenes, common 
to the interior, surprise the eye. Some have curved 
or straight white or red lines, or sometimes dots, 
chalked on cheek or forehead. Here stands an old 
man with palzied arm pointing stiffly into the air, and 
most wretched face, to whom all natives seem to offer 
alms or obeisance. He is a priest, or holy man, whose 
long abstinence and penance, perhaps, has reduced 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 153 

him to this mere skeleton, and, at the same time, raised 
him to honor in the estimation of these queer people. 
The arm was, I am told, reduced to its helpless con- 
dition by holding it piously on high. There was a 
time when the native manifested his devotion by a 
journey to Benares, crawling the hundreds of weary 
miles, like a caterpillar, depending upon the fields or 
chance charity for sustenance, and often sacrificing his 
life to the prowling panther and tiger infesting every 
part of that region. Now the Church of England, 
the Baptists, and other Protestants, besides Mahom- 
medans. Catholics, and the Order of Jesus, are all, in 
their way, working upon and against the Brahmin and 
Buddhist priests, and have here many schools, com- 
modious churches, and one cathedral. 

It is not uncommon to meet people tattooed down 
to their very knees, while others are fairly loaded with 
gold and silver necklaces, armlets, bracelets, anklets, 
and toe-rings, and it is truly a rich sight, when in imme- 
diate contrast with the delicate laces and white, fleecy 
costumes tastefully arranged upon their healthy, grace- 
ful forms. It is also common to see trained animals 
upon the streets, and even on the river, eighty miles 
from its mouth, were observed in the very midst of the 
family, and in a dinghy scarcely sufficient to give stand- 
ing room, a deer, an ape, and a bear. There is one thing 
for congratulation, and that is that the same weather 
which covers us all with a perfect sheet of perspira- 



154 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

tion drives the untidy from torn torn to a bath. Every 
morning, the Ganges and its tributary, the Hoogly, are 
lined with men, women, and children, up to their waists 
in the cooling though dirty water. And in the inte- 
rior, not only people, but groups of buffaloes are seen, 
the latter up to their very muzzles. This animal, 
yoked to a rude two-wheeled cart, is a common sight. 
Its broad feet make it superior to the horse, or even 
the ox, for marshy places, and, once in use, it goes 
everywhere. Its immense semi-lunar horns are a terror 
even to the panther and tiger, w^hether in a wild state 
or on exhibition. In addition to the river, several 
canals furnish the Bengalese with water, and new baths 
are building inside of the Park at Calcutta. Noticing 
a long line of natives with bright brass or copper 
utensils hie along early one morning, I found that 
they stopped at an ornamental watering fountain, 
erected, according to a tablet, by the Prince of Wales 
on his recent visit. It was free, and, for that reason, 
the people truly appreciated it. 

While Benares and Calcutta are old and large cities, 
no worthy bridge at these points spanned the Ganges 
until the year of my visit, the jubilee year of Queen 
Victoria, who now also is styled Empress of India. 
The bridge is in the nature of pontoon or floating 
bridge, but well accommodates the public. India has 
now its railways, the one from Calcutta to Bombay 
being 1,400 miles in length, and runs through the wild 



/^r A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 155 

midlands. It also has many fine viaducts. Among 
the most remarkable sights are the temples, hewn in 
solid rock, but as dak-gharries are the usual convey- 
ance away from railroad lines, they are not easily 
accessible. Strictly speaking, they are Cave Temples, 
and abound with paintings and sculptures, and are 
decorated with bright frescoes. They seemed to be 
confined to no exclusive part of India. The Ajunta, 
-^2 miles only from the Great Indian Peninsula Rail- 
way. The Caves of Ellora, 40 miles from Nondgaon, 
of great antiquity, has a chamber 180 feet square, and 
in its inclosure are two obelisks 80 feet in height, with 
a base of statue of an elephant, all carved and hewn 
from solid rock. On the Island of Elephanta. six 
miles from the Western Coast of India, and near Bom- 
bay, are three such Cave Temples, one 133 feet by 
130, and 20 feet high, supported by immense pillars 
finely ornamented. A three-headed bust of gigantic 
proportions faces the entrance. It is supposed to rep- 
resent the Brahmin Trinity. The island derived its 
name from a solid stone elephant T3 feet in length, 
which has now disappeared. 

In travelling in the interior, one should carry his 
bed and bedding, for at the Dak -bungalows nothing 
comfortable is found. The use of one of these 
homes costs about a rupee per day. You pay extra 
for food and other accommodations. Taking into 
consideration that you may have to ride pig-a-back or 



156 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

in a covered bullock cart, and have to wait for hours 
for even this quaint and dislocating conveyance, travel 
in the interior with food, utensils and bedding, has 
but few attractions. If you 7nust see a wild tiger, bear, 
elephant, panther, crocodile, buffalo, or deer, it is 
better to journey up and down by train, where you are 
safe, and see them on the move, as is often possible. 
Allahabad is interesting for the size of its tamarind 
trees, with thousands of flying-foxes, and two Pali 
inscriptions of great antiquity like those at Delhi and 
Benares. There is also here a banyan tree, said to be 
1,500 years old. the resort for the devout from all 
around, as it is the sacred tree of the natives. To 
once worship here and bathe in the neighboring waters 
of the Ganges, no journey can be too long or fatigue 
too great. It is here, as I have said of Calcutta, that 
you see long-haired and almost nude men covered with 
dust and ashes, looking like human skeletons, the 
Fakirs or holv men. for which the native, unaccount- 
ably, except from superstition and ignorance, professes 
respect and the deepest sympathy. 

But before it escapes my mind, let me say a word 
about this tree, so singular in its formation as well as 
so sacred throughout India. It commences a single 
stem or trunk. Soon branches shoot out. From 
these branches long filaments or air roots descend 
towards the mother earth. The native tenderly cares 
for these until in its downward growth it is trained to 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 157 

the ground, where it soon takes root. Instead of one 

trunk you now may have several, w^hile at the same 

time the first trunk is rising higher and sending out 

more Umbs which, in turn, are sending more filaments 

to the ground. One is on record with a circumference 

of 2,000 feet, containing 3,000 trunks, and capable of 

sheltering 7,000 people. There is one in the Calcutta 

Botanical Gardens of similar grand proportions, which, 

with its heart-shaped leaves and thick foliage, is truly 

worthy of the name of the Temple of Nature. The 

poorer huts generally have above them the graceful 

tamarind tree, but on their days of religious devotions, 

which may last a whole month or more, during which 

they toil not, neither do they spin, despite the threats 

or curses of Europeans, they hie themselves away to 

the grateful shade of the banyan. I am sorry to say 

also that, although holy water and the priest are 

gaining strong foothold among these men, the use of 

fire-water is spreading faster, and that, too, imported 

from civilized countries. 

Another strange place is Deogurh, where 100,000 
pilgrims annually arrive at its temples, and then go on 
to Puri, where are the temples of Juggernath and the 
idol of Vishnu. Wishing to see Mt. Everest, we 
found we must go to Darjeeling, 379 miles from Cal- 
cutta. It is 7,169 feet above the level of the sea, but 
is reached without any great fatigue. This is account- 
ed for by the exceedingly attractive country through 



158 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUiXXY LAXDS, 

which you pass. Long stretches of poppy, indigo 
cotton, and tea plantations he at your feet, while away 
in the distance rise noble heights of 25,000 feet, sup- 
ported by the kingly Mt. Everest with 4,000 feet of 
head and crown additional. While on the way to 
Benares, one can stop and visit the Monkey Temple, 
infested by hundreds of these queer creatures, all 
clamorous for food and attention. 

Benares is but 475 miles from Calcutta, and con- 
tains about 200,000 souls, a greater part of which are 
Hindoos. You are constantly reminded of this by 
meeting at every corner a vermilion-painted deity, so 
grotesque often as to excite laughter instead of rev- 
erence. Along the river-side there are some fine 
buildings and temples, though, as in Venice, some 
have followed their foundations to a dangerous incline, 
caused by the action of the river on the underlying 
soil. The houses are mostly of stone, and often of 
good height, but many of the streets are like those of 
Chinese cities, too narrow for anything but pedestrians. 
Besides 1,000 Hindoo temples, there are 300 Moham- 
medan mosques. In addition, every niche and corner, 
inside and out, contains a shrine for domestic and 
daily worship. The Bathing Ghauts on the Ganges, 
almost any morning, reveal most extraordinary sights 
and sounds, and the ascent of the minarets of the 
Jumma Musjid gives the whole city in all its beauty 
and quaintness. Working of brass and copper ware, 



IjV A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 159 

SO commonly in use in India, is one of the chief 
industries of the place, and nearly as interesting as its 
justly celebrated cloths of gold and silver brocade. 

But not to be tedious, let us pass Lucknow and Cawn- 
pore, Delhi and Agra, which are deeply interesting in a 
historical and mineralogical point of view, and hurry back 
by rail to Calcutta, to the scene mentioned in my very be- 
ginning. The French steamer, under my old friend's con- 
trol, swung around at the King of Cudh's palace, and we 
bid adieu to northern India. Hundreds of kites fol- 
lowed in our wake, rising high in the air and then, 
doubling their wings, shot like an arrow into the dis- 
turbed w^ater to surely rise fish-laden. Dinghys, with 
long bambo poles supporting a large net, floated side- 
wise down with the tide. Each contained three or 
four natives, who, after allowing the net to remain be- 
neath the surface a few minutes, quickly ran up the 
opposite ends of the two poles until their united weight 
overcame that of the net and catch of fish, and sent it 
high in the air. The fare, in a very short time, was 
transferred to the boat, and the net cleared for a repe- 
tition of the business operation. More curious still 
were the tactics of men standing waist deep and push- 
ing before and around them a smaller net of about ten 
square feet, which, from time to time, was raised to 
the surface, and the catch, in a twinkling, transferred 
to a large turban on their heads. 

Eighty miles down brought us to the great deep 



160 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

again, far from men and beast, and face to face with 
the mighty forces of nature, the terrific cyclone and 
pitiless sea. While reading the Calcutta paper my eye 
caught upon the following: ''SS. Paramatta, arrived 
yesterday, reports on August 9, the heat in the Red 
Sea was 190 degrees in the shade." Hitherto, when- 
ever a thermometer was convenient, the highest range 
noticed was but 130 degrees, and that was about all I 
wished to bear, but the officers soon convinced me that 
such heat was possible at the time of year, a fact expe- 
rience taught me to be true, when in my journey we 
found it 160 degrees in Arabia, in September. Indeed, 
from the time w^e left Calcutta until we landed at Alex- 
andria in Eg}^pt, it was so warm that the punkah was 
always kept in motion at meal time. The great heat 
had its compensation in our superior accommodations 
and fare, for which, as long as I travelled on this line, 
no praise can be too great. The entire after-part of 
the boat, which was elevated some 12 feet from the 
main deck, was protected from the sun and wdnd by a 
secure awning, and kept as neat as wax, so that, 
although dressed in plain white, we could sit down or 
recline anywhere without fear of injury. 

The same can be said of our food. An abun- 
dance of courses of tastefully-arranged and delicately- 
cooked viands were always courteously served by 
French waiters, who seemed to take pride in their 
success. And it was marvellous how many surprises a 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 161 

French cook can pleasantly make, in but a few weeks' 
time. Dessert was the same, of which I recall the 
mangosteen, date, orange, and custard apple, with 
every kind of nut imaginable. Our officers, from com- 
mander down, were pure French. Our crew, Lascars 
and Seadee boys. It wis a rich sight to see the Hin- 
doo servants and waiters standing erect behind our 
chairs, with their solemn faces and queer life-preserver 
like hats, — for their heads were always covered in the 
saloon. Every one in the East has his body servant, 
so we had a number aboard. The term Lascar is 
generally applied to the native sailor or gunner, as the 
word Sepoy is to the native soldier. Which reminds 
me, that the noblest of the native army come from the 
northwest of India, and are called Sikhs. Seven feet 
in height is not at all uncommon among them. From 
that part of India I met a large number of people 
as white as I, though some had colored wives, which 
served to distinguish them a little from myself. In 
fact, I carefully refrained from any gift of dress or 
clothing to a maiden girl, using trinket or fruit instead, 
in the entire East, as to present a woman with her 
wearing apparel is quite equal to consent and minister 
put together in our country. 

The second day out. of our pleasant company. Miss 
Dubern, Mrs. Atkinson, and the Pere De Wavre fell 
victims to the general enemy of ocean travel, but val- 
iantly refused to go below, which fact, with its attend- 



162 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

ant free exhibitions of hurried, though covert, visits to 
the vessel's side, sadly gave the enemy the advantage 
over the yet unhurt. I busied myself looking at the 
flying-iish and attending to the children, while secretly 
aching for Mrs. Atkinson to recover, as she had prom- 
ised to show me an ancient gold coin called the mohur, 
which she had found in Patna, and had preserved in 
the shape of a brooch. I afterwards, on her recovery, 
found it to be a very irregular, oval and thin gold disk, 
about an inch and a quarter in diameter, with strange 
bars and figures on each of its flat surfaces. It is a 
very rare coin, but, like everything made of native 
gold, is too soft for constant use. Many of my coins 
were equally interesting to the saloon. Col. Godfrey, 
one of our number, was of the 28th native Indian reg- 
iment, and, with his wife, was taking a trip for his 
health. Mrs. Godfrey w^as a perfect counterpart of 
an old friend at home, and, consequently, made the 
voyage one of rare pleasure. One day I caught them 
reading Mark #T wain's ^'Life on the Mississippi," 
which would surely have given me a shock had it been 
anyone else. I had been so long away from everything 
American, it seemed like a blessing to see them enjoy- 
ing even that overdrawn sketch of American life. Ah, 
those were happy hours, hours that came and went as 
though they were always to last ! Dear friends, our 
sudden parting pains me still ! 

When we reached Madras, we found it impossible 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, [63 

to get inside of the breakwater, and that ten other 
steamers were in the same situation. This long stretch 
of solid masonry, erected at great cost, had been torn 
asunder and thrown helter-skelter by a mighty cyclone, 
so that it affords little shelter, if it does not really make 
navigation more dangerous While bobbing up and 
down on the immense billows, we saw the low coast 
and its attractive surroundings. A long street along a 
pretty beach has many fine buildings. Directly in the 
rear is the college, the church, the park, and to the 
south several massive government buildings. Wild 
billows chase each other from the broad ocean to the 
very street. No boat can live in such a surf. Natives 
are seen, wearing nothing but a medal, so to speak, 
paddling a raft of three logs, of which the centre one 
has a slight curv^e upwards, in hot haste for our pat- 
ronage, and to our assistance. This is the historical 
catamaran, on which a native can carry the mail, when 
any other craft would go to the bottom. Their usual 
posture, when paddling, is on their knees, and often, 
when having iish or fruit for sale, the competition of 
these single-handed rafts is amusing. The skill of the 
Madrasese is no less remarkable than their courage, 
for I have met them away out of sight of land, fishing 
with nothing but these three small seven-foot logs, tied 
together with palm or grass rope, between them and a 
watery grave. 

Next to the catamaran, as a surf surmounter, comes 



164 PLEASANT HOURS IX SUNXY LANDS, 

the Marsula boats, large, deep, and bulky craft, fash- 
ioned by sewing long strips of board lengthwise to- 
gether, as you would a ball covering, with grass or 
palm cord. One would as soon think of finding a 
calabash or cucumber-shell boat in use, as one sewed 
together in this strange fashion. But there it was, 
and full of silk, indigo, opium, and other exports, 
slowly approaching under the power of a dozen stand- 
ing oarsmen, and a queer muffled figure, with a mon- 
strous white turban crowning his dark features, urging 
them on. These oars, I noticed, were leaf-shaped at 
the blade, and rudely constructed as to the other part. 
Madras has two lighthouses, one at the fort, serving as 
an attractive ornament, and the other farther north. 
If it were not for these, it would be a treacherous 
coast, as the immense billows would swamp the stoutest 
boat. An irregular peak toward the centre is fortified 
with artillery, and is the only high land until you go 
north. In the park is a fine collection of wild animals. 
After seeing the beautiful situation of Madras on the 
broad ocean, one cannot imagine how so many prefer 
Calcutta, even in the winter, when the government is 
back again from Simla in the interior. 

The natives live apart from the Europeans, which 
makes the settlement extend some eight miles along 
the pretty coast. It now ranks third as an Indian sea- 
port. Col. Godfrey showed me his old dweUing here. 
These residences are usuallv surrounded bv extensive 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 165 

grounds, laid out with plants and flowers, and are very 
different from his Burmah station. The leading street 
is called Mount Road, and leads from Fort St. George 
to St. Thomas Mount. The Cathedral and Mowbray 
Roads are also wide and neat. The latter has a fine 
avenue of banyan trees. In the square west of the fort 
is a marble statue of our old Yorktown friend. Lord 
Cornwallis, who once distinguished himself here. 
Near by is a fine equestrian statue of Sir Thomas 
Munro, by Chantry. His remains rest near by in the 
old English church, near those of the Missionary 
Schwartz. There is also an observatory here, from 
which all India takes its time. There are ten Chris- 
tian cemeteries and many missionary schools. It also 
has a memorial to Bishop Heber. 

After satisfying ourselves about Madras and its 
surrounding country, we put out to sea for the French 
possessions about Pondicherry, and soon saw its low 
sandy beach, pretty places and background hills di- 
rectly before us. The beach is one of its prettiest 
features, but when you have been rowed a mile to 
shore, you find it as gay and interesting a place as 
India contains. A canal separates the native from the 
European town, and the real life of the place is some 
little distance inland. Near the water, however, is a 
large-sized statue of Gen. Dupliez, Nawab of the Car- 
natic, and once strong in influence at Hyderabad. 
Not far away, near the Boulevards, are many neat 



166 PLEASAXT HOURS I.V SUNNY LANDS, 

hotels, and as the healthiness of the cUmate and 
purity of its drinking water excel most seaport cities, 
it has the appearance of a gay and fashionable water- 
ing-place. Along the sandy beach, scores of happy 
couples wend their slow and joyous way, while a queer 
vehicle, not seen elsewhere, with large white sails and 
steered from within, moves up and down the same 
sandy course, giving invalids and children a merry 
boat-ride on solid land. The light-house rises from 
the square it ornaments, and not far from the only 
pier. The ten columns of native stone surrounding 
the Dupliez statute rise close by. The Cathedral has 
two square towers and a large dome, like the Notre 
Dame of Paris, and far to the North a Mohammedan 
mosque, with minaret and like dome, stand out in 
quaintest contrast. 

In the interior we came across the most primitive 
money I had used, with the exception of the bar of 
silver before mentioned, and the cowry shell also used 
here in Southern India. It was a small oval copper 
disk with the rajah's stamp. The right to coin money 
is identical here with the right to govern, and conse- 
quently, when in the domain of rajah, marajah or 
nawab, you find and use their native coin. The 
English, however, have their own money in paper, 
silver and gold. Many of the silver rupees of the old 
East India Company are still in use. But a dozen or 
more of French women and girls are about to be 



nV A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 167 

rowed to the Tibre, so we might as well accompany 
them. Three mighty billows of surf nearly stand our 
boat on end, but when once beyond, the sea was 
almost glassy, and much too soon we reached the ves- 
sel's side. With three times three hurrahs, the boat 
crew left. We had hardly reached the deck, when still 
more enthusiasm was noticed from a boat containing a 
French consul and his numerous family. If Adele 
sees this, may she pardon this reference, for were there 
not six small persons besides herself? Ah, what an 
Adele ! Who but you with your childish prattle could 
have consoled me for the loss of Col. Godfrey and his 
lovely lady, who had but then bid me a warm farewell I 
With our eyes sadly fixed on the fast receding shore, 
over which we could still look into the pleasant country 
beyond, speechless at loss of friends, seen only perhaps 
beyond the vale, we watched the sun go down as on 
their graves. That night, out of sight of land, and 
exposed to crossing seas from the Indian Ocean, it 
was frightful. Ernest Brier, wife, and two children, 
had long before succumbed to the inevitable, and lay 
helpless. None but Mr. Lindguist, ^Irs. Atkinson, 
and myself, were left on our feet, with Mrs. x\tkinson 
on the doubtful seat, but still coming up smiling. 
After it became too dangerous above, we succeeded in 
forcing our way safely to the saloon, and there tried 
to cheer up the poor, homesick mortals then almost 
wild with despair. French nature is either very buoyant 



1 (jS pleasant hours in sunny lands, 

or despondent. Many were leaving pleasant homes for 
Tahiti and other distant fields of labor. Mrs. Brier, a 
lovely young woman, was, the livelong night, begging 
her husband to return, to only go back, and she would 
bear any hardship than endure the present misery 
longer. If joy has its heights, sorrow, none the less, 
has its dark depths of despair, and both may fall on 
the same individual. 

Up, up, up, rises our gallant ship, when, in a trice, 
her nose is plunged deep into the raging billows, and 
struck, one, two, three, by the maddened sea, as by a 
mighty sledge. To say that my heart went out to 
those poor, helpless mortals, is unnecessary. Little 
Paul, a lovely, curly-headed boy of three, all night long 
loudly cried out for his helpless mamma, while six 
inches of water swashed around our feet in the cabin. 
Soon after daybreak we sighted the distant peaks of 
northern Ceylon, and saw signs of a quieter sea ahead, 
though huge white-caps, rising to an immense height, 
and often having their foundation knocked out from 
under them, struggled like aerial monsters all about 
us. None but the strongest vessel can outlive such a 
cyclone and sea. After passing Trincomalee, the 
sandy shore became higher, and mountain peaks ap- 
peared in the far interior. Passed both Little Bass 
Light and Great Bass Light, the latter a beautiful, 
flashing light, like an immense Oriental ruby. The 
next day found us, early, oif Point de Galle, lying low 



IiY A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 169 

and surrounded by hills, and is the most exposed point 
in all the Indian Ocean. It has a lighthouse and several 
large hotels and other buildings, but large vessels now 
shun its dangerous coast, and go on to Columbo on 
the western coast, where a strong breakwater protects 
them from both southwest and northeast monsoon. 
The nose of the Tibre rose on high and plunged 
straight down into the sea again about once a minute. 
Suddenly down swept a gale again and drove the rain 
before it till the scene was startingly like the drifting 
snow in midwinter. Every rain drop was lashed into 
foam, and upon the wildly racing billows appeared 
nothing but hillocks of ghostly white. The French 
Governor of Chandernagore, who had been unable to 
leave his stateroom since leaving Calcutta, must have 
thought that he had awakened in Dante's Inferno. 

By the time we made Mt. Lavinia, the sun burst 
forth, and we were gratified by a sight of its fine hotel, 
with seven or eight miles of foam and surf, white, 
green, and blue, leaping high into the air. Away in 
the distance was the immense breakwater of Colombo, 
constructed in 1875, ^^^^ ^ lighthouse at its farthest 
sea end, over which, in high, bold leaps, the same 
greenish-white surf was wildly vaulting. We were 
then grandly riding upon a beautiful yellowish-green 
sea, rising and falling like an egg-shell on its immense 
billows. Right before us, skimming along like a 
swallow, with a large expanse of white sail outspread, 



170 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

was a queer, long, narrow craft fashioned from a log, 
upon which was constructed, to the height of two feet, 
two box-like sides, and just space enough between to 
insert a slim pair of legs. Two seats, like those of 
any boat, ran at right angles across the top, and two 
long, curved poles, fastened at one end to the boat 
and the other tied to a long log running parallel to 
the keel, served, as an outrigger, to give it steadiness. 
It was a bom-boat, used here both for passengers and 
native traders. It glides over the water with lightning 
speed, cutting its way like a knife. 

Far to the left were two high-walled, shoe-like boats 
with but one mast and a long, slanting boom with 
triangular sail, so ancient I knew that it must have 
come fresh from Egypt or the Nile. I had but to 
catch a glimpse of the long, red flag, with its crescent 
and three stars, and I was convinced. Ages have 
come, ages gone, but the queer Dahabeah, so familiar 
in Egyptian river scenes, has never changed. Above 
and beyond all, rose the majestic palm in countless 
numbers, with its usual accompaniment of native 
thatched huts peering out beneath. The Tamil is 
much spoken in Ceylon, but you find, as elsewhere in 
the East, a large number of Turks, Hindoos, Arabs, 
and Chinese. The first native I saw here wore his 
long hair, like a girl, fastened back with a large, circu- 
lar comb. He was a Sinhalese merchant, and rode 
perched up in a bom-boat. 



IN A TOUR AROUND 'THE WORLD, 171 

After rounding the breakwater, we took up our 
anchorage in the placid water behind. Boom-boom, 
came the outside billows upon the protecting sea-wall, 
rising in great sheets of foam and floating off in mist. 
At first I could not leave the spot, so grand was the 
display. The wall is constructed of 32-ton stone 
blocks, 16 by 20 feet, dovetailed into each other at an 
angle, and has a capping 12 feet above low-water mark. 
It extends hundreds of feet westward, with its outer 
end curving northward, bearing a light-house over 
which the monsoon constantly drove the beautiful bil- 
lows up to the very land. Another light-house, con- 
taining also a clock, rises near the old fort and pos- 
sesses one of the best and clearest lights in the world, 
a revolving dioptic, plainly distinguishable 18 miles. 
There are two little steam launches, but one is so asth- 
matic, we avoided it for fear that it might conclude, 
after getting us well on board, to give a last gasp and 
send us skyward. When on shore, we found the street 
soon led to finely shaded walks and cinnamon gardens. 
The long, peach-leaf shaped foliage is so fragrant that 
to-day, a year afterwards, those I brought home still 
give forth the delicate aroma. Among the palms, we 
found the cocoanut with its long spikes drooping with 
its load of from 12 to 20 heavy nuts, and the Palmyra, 
which yields from its flower spike many bottles of ex- 
cellent toddy, the natives hanging bottles to it for that 
purpose for six months of the year. 



172 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

Where the native lives on the cocoanut, he finds four 
nuts per day sufficient for support. Sugar and vinegar, 
as well as toddy, are made from the palm ; also mats, 
thatch, and a substitute for cabbage. The taliput 
palm blossoms but once in a lifetime, and often after 

it is 60 to 80 vears old. The blossom is 20 feet hiorh. 

ml ^ 

The sight of the cinnamon tree, flourishing in the 
white sand, is striking, as is the peeling of the bark 
from its tender shoots for commerce. Farther to the 
North coffee fields are numerous, but on account of 
the coffee-bug, tea is fast taking its place ; and further 
yet, where still roam the wild elephant, buffalo, deer, 
panther, bear, anaconda, and cobra, were once fields 
of rare fertility and production, down to which, by a stu- 
pendous system of mountain reservoirs, dams and 
canals, water, ages past, had been conducted, to make 
it the ''Garden of the East" that it was. There seems 
to be no coal, but iron is found in quite large quantities, 
and often in a state of purity. I was told that Sin- 
halese-vrorked iron is equal to the best Swedish metal. 
As you approach the harbor from the sea, you may 
observe a dark-blue peak far inland, like a monarch 
amons: the lesser heio^hts. This is Adam's Peak, on 
the summit of which is a hollow, now roofed over, 
said by the followers of Mahomet to be the footstep of 
Adam. Hence the name. I need not add that the 
honor is contested ; that the Buddhist claims it for 
Buddha, and Portuguese for St. Thomas. If I had 



nv A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 173 

made it, it would have been the same, except it would 
not look quite so much like that of a mule. I often 
on my trip indulged in creating foot-prints, hieroglyph- 
ics, and images, that the rare ingenuity of the Oriental 
mind may not weaken for want of subjects. 

About here are found the blue, green, white and 
pink sapphire, cat's-eye, moonstone, and ruby. It 
was a genuine surprise to find sapphires like diamonds. 
It is not an uncommon sight to meet a native, in 
nothing but a waist- cloth, out of which he will draw a 
double handful of these gems cut, uncut, and set. The 
cat's-eye, although costing hundreds of dollars often, 
had for me but little attractions, yet the possession to 
the lucky native insures him life-long comfort and hap- 
piness. While examining the collection of a Mahome- 
dan native, who wore on his head a little, tall, round 
straw hat, with bands of different color, and no brim, 
he became very social and disclosed the names of 
some of his recent customers, among whom were 
Eben D. Jordan and daughter, of Jordan, Marsh & Co. 
of Boston. Next to the gems, the rhododendron, 
which grows above the Sanitarium of Nuwara Eliya, 
interested me most. At home it rarely exceeds ten 
feet in height, but here a stem may measure three feet 
in circumference, and the trunk run to the great height 
of 70 feet, so rich is the moisture and soil of this 
region. Ebony and satin-wood are also found here. 
A cane of the former, finely carved and ornamented 



174 PLEASANT HO URS IX SUNNY LANDS, 

with native ivory, was here presented me. The head 
was carved to represent the wild elephant, and con- 
tained real ivory tusks. The country towns seem full 
of the finest carved ebony cabinets, boxes, and articles 
for ornamentation, for which they are justly noted. 
The pearl fisher}' is not of the importance in Colombo 
as formerly, but is carried on with great success just 
North in Persia. The manner of gathering them, 
however, was shown me by a Mahometan, who some- 
what startled me with a remark touching his faith, 
little realized in Christian countries. 

^•You and I," said he, "are completely clothed in 
both mind, body, and soul. These poor creatures are 
destitute of everything. We believe in one and the 
same God ; the number they worship is unlimited." 
I had just seen the old temple with its recumbent, 
giant god, refulgent in yellow and vermilion, and con- 
sequently could feel that there was some force to his 
succinct statement. Yet, even the missionar}^ has to 
admit that modern civilization and commerce brings a 
grave change to these simple and true-hearted natives, 
w^herever found living in the truth of nature. Many a 
time they have trooped by, garlanded with flowers, as 
happy and innocent as children, until I have felt com- 
merce and modern societ}^ a curse. The truth is too 
apparent to the traveller, though ignorantly denied by 
stay-at-homes. Among the queer things you meet 
with here, are the geckoes, whose toes have pads with 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD, 175 

which they can climb perpendicularly, and \valk on the 
ceiling, the white ant, or termites, and the walking leaf 
and stick. Ceylon was known to the Romans and 
Greeks, but the first European settlement was by the 
Portuguese, w^ho started a factory here at Colombo, 
where the old fort now stands, in 1517. The Sinhalese 
kings induced the Dutch to drive out the invaders, 
which they did in 1656, and were in turn routed by the 
English in 1796. Kandy, now connected by rail, was 
the last to vield. The lash is here still used as a 
means of legal punishment, as I noticed in Singapore 
were the old stocks. Some of the natives speak Pali, 
which has been a dead language for above two thou- 
sand years. It is in this tongue that most of their 
valuable works are written, including the Buddhist 
Bible, called the ^^ Tripitaka,*' which was written 309 
B. C, and has eleven times the number of followers 
as our religion. 

Its pure and simple doctrines still live in the native 
heart. By it falsehood, intemperance, anger, pride, 
dishonesty, covetousness, and taking even the lowest 
life, are strictly forbidden. Caste, here as often else- 
where, is but a social institution. Every trade is a 
caste, except among the Mohammedans. They have 
no caste. ^The Colombo Ice Co., manufacturers of 
artificial ice, used to declare a dividend of 60 per cent 
from two machines only, but tea and coffee raising 
now prove as good an investment for capital. The 



176 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

indigo plant raised here is a low weed with one stalk 
and flower. It is cut or pulled up and cast into 
cement tanks. After being mashed in water and submit- 
ted to pressure, the liquid is drawn off into an- 
other tank and filtered. It is then submitted to 
heat, when bright-colored crystals appear. Fully as 
interesting was the shoe plant, from which is made a 
deep purple dye. With this the Chinese women color 
their hair and eyebrows. It is also used for iron and 
shoe blacking, hence its name. Here I was forced to 
part with Mr. Lindguist, ]^Irs. Atkinson and others, with 
whom, in the common danger of our perilous voyage, 

so many impressive hours had been spent. 

But my joy was great when, on first going aboard of 
the French SS. Volga, for Arabia, I found an Eng- 
lish book lying on the deck. While casting some 
pennies to the nimble divers, who gather around as in 
the East Indies, I unconsciously spoke English, and 
was thus introduced to the owner of the volume^ an 
English-speaking European on his way home from 
lava. I had become so tired of the mental exertion 
of using French, that I hailed him and a gentleman 
and ^vife, all with American faces but of Dutch birth, 
as an unusually good fortune. 




NATIVE INDIA COINS. 



IjV A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 177 



CHAPTER VII. 

Behold what men haih wrought ! 

The soul of loveliness, a type of Heaven, 

But once to mortal vision given ! 

1 HE Volga was so inferior to the Tibre in pleas- 
ing style and raised deck, that I feared, with so many 
■passengers, it would be unpleasant, but acquaintance 
soon obviated all difficulties. It should have been 
enough to have had Adele, whose constant laughter 
and limpid French was a sure cure for low spirits, and 
who came tripping down the wide companion-way into 
my very arms before I was hardly aware of her pres- 
ence. I was not on a fishing excursion, however, 
neither was I in a mood to bite. Alas, I almost wish 
I had now^ ! She had been to see Arabi Pasha, who 
lives here in exile, having the freedom of the town, 
but never venturing on the water. She had been to 
the cinnamon gardens and, would I believe it, had 
some of the fragrant leaves left. Bright, light-hearted 
Adele, how quickly seasickness stopped that eager 
tongue ! To get you from my mind let me say, that 
red goats, as large as the little white cows of India, 
were about the last objects to appear in sight, flanked 
by eight Sisters of Charity just landed for Cathedral 



178 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

work. The Volga was on her return to Marseilles 
from China, and carried, among other things, gifts for 
the Pope's Jubilee, soon after held at Rome. Her 
deck was covered with canvas awning, and gorgeous 
Eastern ferns, flowers, birds and monkeys crowded its 
capacious sides. 

With four men at the wheel and full speed on, we 
fairly danced over the water till we reached the low 
coral isles of the Maldive group, which shone with all 
the splendor of the opal. Here we moved slowly all 
one Sunday through their magical scenery. No 
steamers of deep draught thread the channel except by 
day, although it has a light. The islands are well 
wooded, but long Hues of coral reef appear below the 
emerald water, making navigation extremely dangerous. 
Tall waving palms and low native huts were sparsely 
scattered along the coast, and for miles on our port, 
glowing beneath the midday sun with soft, bright 
colors, stretched the low coral beach. We had the 
piano brought upon deck and^ from that day on, we 
were never wanting for a song, anthem, or even a 
polka. Besides, at every meal a music box, of almost 
endless variety of selections, lent spirit and zest to the 
flowers, fruit and, perhaps, flavor of our food. Every 
evening came a concert, to which all were prevailed 
upon to contribute, and often a dance, it making little 
difference whether the deck were level or at an angle 
of forty-five degrees. All was as innocent and harm- 



lA" A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 179 

less as child's play, and helped to give each day a joy 
and pleasant memory. We had a Japanese major and 
his general's son aboard who, like myself, preferred, at 
the dancing, to always play the audience, despite the 
constant protests and entreaties brought to bear against 
us. Perched high upon the stem-wheel box, not then 
in use, we dined on the fine green-skinned orange, the 
mangosteen, and various native nuts, pleasantly over- 
looking the happy crowd, and often tempting them to 
stop and partake. 

Once, while so seated high and dry, an immense sea 

struck amidships and swept the rest of the men, 

women and children, like twigs, before it down to the 

opposite rail, where only the stout canvas awning saved 

them from a watery grave. All were drenched. My 

lady friend from Paris, Mrs. Bienville, her daughter, 

her daughter-in-law, and, yes, Adele, were as wet as 

drowned rats, and really looked about as attractive. 

Which, or how many, did I carry below .^ I forget. For 

days ran the same high peaks and deep, wide valleys 

of seething water, till it grew calm again, and seemed 

to change to a lighter green color. A silver-grey owl 

from the African shore, no doubt, came aboard one 

night and perched above the cabin door. 

September 25, we reached Aden, the great coaling 
station for Australian and Eastern steamers. Now, 
again, the dug-out canoe appeared, this time under 
control of bushy-haired Africans and grey-haired Arabs, 



180 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

some, like the maiden lady of America, with a long 
curl hanging down in front of each ear, and all the rest 
of the head closely shaved. The Somauli from Africa 
were as black as the ace of spades, slender in form, 
and so economical in clothing as to wear nothing but 
a medal tied to the waist and a charm of snake-skin 
above the elbow. Happy Somauli, marching along erect 
as a pole, perfectly unconscious oE .the queer figure they 
were cutting, only intent on selling the Frank the long, 
tin roll reefed under their long, lank arms ! In that 
long tin of about two inches in diameter, they shake 
out, before your astonished gaze, the finest, whitest, 
and downiest ostrich plumes that ever gladdened a 
maiden's eye. Arabs, with ibex horns, sword-fish teeth, 
peacock fans, coral, and even caramels of the purest 
gum-arabic and sugar, quickly joined the throng. The 
sight of their cotton dress-goods reminds me that I 
have omitted speaking of one of the commonest sights 
in India, and especially at Madras. It is the native 
travelling merchant with his bundle of rich embroidery 
and artistic designs impossible of description. Gold 
and silver thread is commonly used on velvet, silk, and 
other rich fabrics. Thousands of beetles' wings, hum- 
ming birds' breasts, and glowing insects, are in this way 
utilized, and made to produce effects possible only to 
the Eastern imagination. The only criticism I would 
make, and a fair and just one, is the want, often, of 
symmetry and grace in their scrolls and vine tracery. 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 181 

Not far off we see a band of men, with long, bushy 
hair standing almost out straight, as brown as the 
neighboring camel or the hot, parched hills beyond. 
The high slopes on the right are nude of vegetation, 
and resembled burnt gunpowder. They probably are 
of volcanic origin. The sun is intolerable, and the 
doctor forbade our uncovering the head, even at our 
meals. Does the thermometer falsify, or is it i6o^ ? 
I am conscious of acute pain, as though a knife 
were entering the brain, accompanied with a strange, 
giddy sensation. We pass along around the bend, 
away to the north, and come to the old town of Aden. 
Opposite some queer, low buildings, reminding one of 
a Moorish town, is a square literally full of camels, 
some from Mecca, some from Persia. Some are rest- 
ing on the ground, their long necks stretched at full 
length on the hot sand. Some are rising with a long, 
guttural groan, as if in protest of their load. Others 
are harnessed into rude two-wheeled carts. Every- 
thing but the houses appears to be suffering in the heat. 
Then on, on up to the elaborate and costly English 
water-works nestling high among the hills, and then 
gladly back again. Can Sahara, can Satan be worse ! 
How mortals can exist here, say nothing of enjoying 
life, is a great mystery. They wear but little clothing, 
and their hair is so dry as to stand quite out straight. 
This, perhaps, keeps it from becoming matted and warm. 
But what of their nerves and brain ? Is there an ossifi- 



182 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

cation of the one and the absence of the other ? And 
yet, here they offer for sale exquisite workmanship in 
sandal and olive woods ; but both of these woods come 
from afar, and possibly are brought here for sale. The 
peacock-feather fans, so prettily gotten up, may be 
native work, so the whitening of the ostrich feathers, 
but, at all events, you get a sorry idea of the Arab, as 
well as his noted, fleet and milk-white steed, from this 
burnt, forsaken country. 

Later on, however, I saw some improvement, but 
have never been able to soar to a poet's view of Bedouin, 
Arab or Turk. Here, in Arabia, I was addressed as 
" Marster," (Master). In India, as '' Sarb," (Sahib). 
Even among the rascals of Egypt, courteous expres- 
sions were as abundant as fleas, and nearly as pleasant. 
As in India, you hear a strange, reed-like music, and 
up from an innocent-looking basket at the performer's 
side, pops into your very face a wriggling cabra, or 
anaconda. Aden and the island of Perim are the 
English strongholds at the entrance of the Red Sea, 
but the strength of their fortifications is not apparent, 
though full in sight. The water is clear and full of 
fine fish, which, with some of the finest oysters ever 
tasted, helped us to a better view of the desolate 
town. While inspecting a Mecca caravan, I found some 
delicate lace, bead and fancy work equal to anything 
seen, but I wonder they do not invent something 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 183 

more appropriate for the head than their little, sauce- 
pan caps or, worse still, the massive turban. 

Two pretty lights, one revolving in the Northwest, 
guided us on our journey out of this port, and we soon 
came to the Somauli Territory in Africa. Flocks of 
water-fowl and birds kept close to our boat until 
Massowah was reached. This was connected with the 
late Soudan War, in which Chinese Gordon lost his life. 
It has two islands near, and land lay on pur port side 
for a long time. The whole coast along Abyssinia, Nubia 
and Egypt, is pretty much the same, a low sandy coast, 
with high barren land in the distance. I looked in vain 
for any claim the Red Sea might have to its name. A 
little red coral, a few red weeds, that was all. During 
the many days up to Suez, during which I coursed its 
entire length, it was as dark-blue as the ocean, and 
often as boisterous. At times, however, the intense 
heat from the great deserts on either hand forced the 
perspiration from every pore, and kept it in sheets 
upon the face, even when a strong breeze w^as blowing. 
It was the first time in my life of experiencing the 
strange sensation of feeling a breeze without the least 
evaporation or cooling effect. It w^as more like having 
very warm spray sent gently upon you. The sun each 
evening sank heavily down like a ball of molten lead, 
but the nights w^ere glorious. Shower after shower of 
sparkling meteors shot down the clear, blue sky and, 
bursting, showered the air with brightest green, blue, 



184 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

and red refulgence. Many a night, from here to Italy, 
the planets gradually descended, as darkness drew on, 
until they seemed like red, blue, green, and yellomsh- 
white lights swinging low on silver cords and sparkling 
in an atmosphere of pure hydrogen. Often was it 
repeated in Eg^-pt and Palestine, and \'ividly broiight 
to mind the night when the star arose over Bethlehem's 
plain. We saw also, here, the pelicans of the wilder- 
ness, pursuing, as of old, the even tenor of their way, 
in long, single lines against the sky. Nor must I for- 
get the flocks of quail, also mentioned in the Old 
Testament. All are pleasant reminders. 

Many steamships were here met, as the Suez Canal 
has entirely changed the line of commerce East. 
Formerly a few sluggish daharbeahs freighted with 
wheat or grain were all to be seen in the whole Red 
Sea. Now one is not surprised to meet a dozen of the 
largest-sized steamers with decks crowded with people, 
and hold full of everything the earth can produce. 
Suakim next came in sight. Here Italian men-of-war 
are having trouble with the natives, as Italy aims at 
holding this place at all hazards. When oflF Mecca, 
the sea arose in all its might. For the last time for 
days, this was a golden opportunit)' for seasickness, 
and ever}^ moment was thus industriously improved. 
I was glad of a change and, although far from being 
sick, I got my share of the bruises and bimips inci- 
dental to such a sea-frolic. A child cries loudly, and 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 185 

turning, I see its father has, in his course to the ves- 
sel's side, forgotten its tender youth and recklessly 
thrown it at my feet. You forgive when you see his 
lank form nearly bent double in his involuntary and 
frantic attempts at relief. That father and child were 
first cousins. I laugh at it now, but then it seemed a 
queer state of affairs in family relations. This man 
had an aunt, some thirteen years his senior, but really 
more prepossessing, and as she was so good as to have 
him, they were married. This was their first child, 
who seemed well and lusty in his privilege of calling 
his papa " dear coz,'' and his mamma ''great auntie." 

We were for days out of sight of land, and the sky 
all that time of a beautiful silver-grey, with the moon 
nearly as plainly visible by day as at night. We passed 
the light on the Two Brothers, when we were not far 
from Medina on the outside, and Assouan on the 
other. Now steamers became more frequent, and 
cheer after cheer, amid waving of handkerchiefs, went 
up from many a glad heart. Soon the extreme point 
of Ras Mohammed on the Mt. Sinai Peninsula, then its 
high, rugged, barren hills, burst into view. Next, land 
of Lower Egypt on our port drew equally near. Thus 
we entered the Gulf of Suez, on the extreme north of 
the Red Sea, -which lay under the rays of the hot sun 
like burnished silver. With glass in hand, and stead- 
fast gaze to the northeast, I awaited with nervous 
anxiety for distant mountain heights. 



186 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

I did not have long to wait, for slowly upon the ob- 
ject-glass grew dim outlines of mountain peaks. Above 
and beyond loomed a craggy brow, apparently cleft in 
twain. No sign of vegetation, cedar, vine, or palm. 
The reflection from its glistening, arid sides caused 
my glass to lower. When I again raised it, almost 
opposite, grandly towered the object of my eager antic- 
ipation. A mountain monarch doubly crowned, in 
whose deep recesses man met and talked with the 
living God. Is there in all biblical literature an object 
so grand, so overwhelming ! The Christian thinks 
not. One of the leading Episcopal clergymen of India 
— one who entertained Joseph Cook when in the East 
— with whom I was then travelling, was directly 
asked by me if he sincerely believed that Moses, or any 
other man, ever actually talked with his Maker here, 
answered: ''It was a rare spiritual experience.'' It 
matters not now whether it was more. One view of its 
sacred peaks is worth the labor of a life-time. Though 
rent by earthquake and torn by lightning, the influence 
of this patriarchal mount is ever phenomenal. "And 
all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings 
and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smok- 
ing; and when the people saw it, they removed afar 
off.'' 

"The captain informed me that the base of Sinai was 
forty-five miles distant, but when, later, we undertook 
the journey to the wells of Moses, where only a shal- 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 187 

low pool near a few trees remains, despite camel and 
the undulating plains, it proved a wearisome journey. 
The wilderness, so-called, is one of sand or brown, 
arid soil, where nothing but the tamarisk cares to exist, 
not one of trees and undergrowth. Instead of two 
peaks, as it appeared from the sea, we found three, 
each one of which has its claimants as being the true 
place where Moses received the tablets of the Law 
— Gebel Mousa, 7359 feet, Gebel Sufsafeh, and Gebel 
Catherine. A stone chapel and mosque have been 
built on Mt. Mousa. There are also several caves, as 
the high, rocky sides are rent in every direction, in one 
of which Moses may have hidden when the '' Lord 
passed by." The convent of St. Catherine, some 1300 
years old in its chapel, at least, is located within 2,360 
feet of its summit. K Campanile and Mohammedan 
mosque stand near. The ascent was so difficult, on 
account of the intense heat, I did not attempt it. A 
sheer precipice, 3,000 feet high, of solid rock seamed 
with porphyry, rose discouragingly on the right, and 
hot, rough boulders everywhere else, but we could see 
the Gulf of Akaba, where once rode the fleet of Solo- 
mon, glistening in the hot sun, in the east, and our 
own blue sea, in the course we came, to the west. To 
see the convent is sufficient. It is so surrounded with 
a thick and high wall, that the inmates are always safe 
from theft, robbery, or Bedouins. It has still in ex- 
istence and in use, the rude windlass for hoisting 



188 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS. 

objects or man to the upper and outer entrance on the 
walls, once so common in fortified places in the East. 

The water is so shallow at Suez, that for four miles 
one can wade at low tide without danger of drowning, 
unless the tide, as is said in the case of the Egyptian 
pursuers of Moses, suddenly returns, when even now 
you would drown if you could not swim. Suez sits 
quaintly on a gentle rise out of a vast sandy plain. 
Between her and the long ridge of sharp hills south is 
the level plain where Moses divided the waters and 
passed over dry-shod. The opposite side, up to the 
wells of Moses, is a barren waste. Some claim the 
place of crossing a little above, but it does not matter. 
As you look at Suez, it would seem that one shot from 
our gun would drive out her entire population, like 
ants from an ant-hill. The English have a garrison here, 
as they also have at Alexandria and Cairo. Nothing 
impresses one in the East, especially in Turkish and 
Eg}'ptian territory, like the peaceful beauty of the towns 
and cities. Afar off, they appear raised suddenly out 
of the ground as by a magician's wand. The dome and 
minaret are never wanting, and seldom the high 
whitish wall, and long winding road up to the open 
gateway. Bathed in the morning or evening sun, they 
seem ethereal. But not to spoil the pleasant picture 
we will remain afar off, the farther the better, perhaps, 
if the view is not lost. 

A mile or so out from Suez is Port Ibrahim, from 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 

oEA 



189 



-I : 



S 



Ukc 



T/MSAM 



^^^ SEA 




If CAT B/TTER 
S LAKE 

'LITTLE BITTER 



190 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

which a train now runs to Cairo. This place is 
the southern terminus of the celebrated Suez Canal. 
A few feet south are two lights, one red, the other 
green. These, upon their firm pedestals, mark its en- 
trance. No steamer is allowed to sail through at 
night without an electric light high on her forecastle. 
One Sunday morning, at 8 A. M., we entered here on 
our way to the Mediterranean. As we advanced, the 
water rose and fled ahead of us, while that behind 
rushed headlong after. In places, it seemed hardly 
possible to insert one's body between the vessel and 
bank, but, as we slowly glided along, we soon came to 
a station where the canal opened to sufficient width to 
admit the passing of an opposite steamer. None but 
steamers are to be seen. Sailing vessels still round 
Cape Good Hope. These stations are but turn-outs, 
and of no great length. Here was ancient Arsinoe 
or Cleopatris, the old terminus of the ancient canal 
from Cairo constructed 600 B. C. to carry grain to 
Mecca. There is now a canal from Suez to the Nile, 
which supplies the town w^ith fresh water. For centu- 
ries, before it was built, they had been obliged to bring 
it in goatskins from the wells of Moses miles below. 

A caravan of camels, on the old trail from Cairo to 
Mecca, are waiting for us to pass, as we near the first 
bridge of boats. Two of the boats are soon replaced 
behind us and, like so many awkward turtles, with head 
and neck outstretched, they slowly wend their way 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 191 

southward. Nothing but sand, as unbroken as the 
ocean, lies before and on either side of them. They 
carry tents, cooking utensils, bedding and food, besides 
their merchandise. Speaking from experience, jour- 
neying by camel is pleasanter when done in the glow 
of imagination — and by your fireside. If you are of 
a sensitive nature, you will not feel, after once seeing 
his ugly head and lips thrust out right before your eyes 
with a groan too suggestive of the stomach-ache to be 
borne heroically, much like again mounting his awk- 
w^ard carcass. He does not lie down like the horse or 
cow. His long hind legs rest on the inner side of his 
haunches. Even when you are coaxing him to assume 
that desirable position, so as to save a month or two of 
precious time trying to crawl up his irregular sides, 
he so reluctantly complies and with so loud a com- 
plaint, that you dread to mount. No sooner mounted, 
than up pop his hind quarters, just as you have become 
convinced that it would surely be his fore, and had 
bent forward accordingly, and lays your tender cheek 
lovingly — and embrace, too, — upon its long, dirty 
neck, and you are saved from complete somerset and 
disgrace, only by a sudden upward jerk of his front. 
With purple face and bated breath, you may then coax 
the beast to start. No sooner started, than you repent 
your imprudence, for the first step once taken, you are- 
set into a backward and forward oscillation about as 
congenial to your poor frame as an undeserved shaking 



192 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

from a zealous but near-sighted school mistress, in 
childhood. 

But the long line of ^^ ships of the desert" gradually 
fades away in the distance, so let us return to the 
canal. Ferdinand Lesseps was not the first to plan 
this water-way. No less a person than Napoleon Bon- 
aparte had it surveyed years before. And it is a 
singular fact, that Louis Napoleon, when in exile in 
America, planned a like one in Nicaragua. The Suez 
is more properly a water-way than a canal, as it has 
neither locks, reservoirs, pumping engines, or gates, 
but in its entire length of eighty-eight miles, its level 
is barely disturbed, except from the Bitter Lakes to 
Suez, where there is a slight change, from one to five 
feet, on account of the tide. Before its construction, 
the old lakes had fallen to little better than valleys of 
salty sand, but when the Mediterranean was let in 
during the winter of 1869, Lakes Menzaleh, Timsah 
and, later in the following summer, the water from the 
Red Sea, Little and Great Bitter Lakes became well 
filled. Sweet water is conducted from the Nile along 
its entire course. Every five or six miles come the 
stations or turnouts. These have a signal station, a 
small cottage surrounded often with date palm and 
shrubbery, all in the care of the canal servants. The en- 
tire route is regulated by telegraph, from Port Said on 
the north to Suez on the south. Its original cost was 
$100,000,000 which, of course, must be short of the 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 193 

real sum, from the fact that at one time 30,000 Arabs 
and Egyptians were forced into service by Mahomet 
Said Pasha, the Viceroy of Egypt. His successor, 
Ismail Pasha, refused to comply with the terms of 
his brother Mahomet. The matter was left out to 
arbitration, by which the Viceroy was compelled to 
pay the Canal Company $15,800,000. As the canal 
was begun in i860, I think it must have been in 1863 
when this trouble arose. It resulted in the permanent 
withdrawal of conscript labor, and occasioned the use 
of modern machinery, such as is now being used in 
the present widening, agreed upon in 1886. 

Its depth is intended to be 26 feet, and, when fully 
widened, the width 72 feet at least. No rock, except 
a little of soft nature at Ismalia, where there is a slight 
elevation, was met with the whole distance, the rest 
being either level sand plain or lake bed. Sixty-six of 
the eighty-eight miles were excavated, fourteen miles 
were dredged out, and eight miles needed no labor. 
By its construction, the distance between India and 
Western Europe is reduced from 11,379 ^^ 7,628 
miles, and when you consider the great number of 
large vessels and the saving of weeks of valuable time, 
you begin to realize its vast importance. I think the 
rate per net ton on each vessel entering this water- 
way is a little above $1.50. We had obtained at Suez 
some grapes, apples and cherries. The first were deli- 
cious, like the Persian we had in Arabia, but the 



19^ FLEASAXT HOURS /X SUXXV LAXDS, ^ 

cherries were like apples, and the apples quite, in flavor 
and hardness, like our Xew England quince. Looking 
over the permit our French commandant had received 
to pass through, I found it was in English, indicating 
that England still holds her control. This was cor- 
roborated by the English garrison at each end, and the 
appearance of Englishmen at the numerous turnouts 
or stations. A telegraph line, on iron and stone posts, 
runs along the western side, and little marks of iron 
and stone, numbered, are placed at equal distances on 
each side. A railway, at some distance on the left, 
runs to Ismalia, and then turns west and runs down to 
Cairo. At a short distance up. we came to one of the 
queer dwellings to be found ever}'where in Arabia and 
Palestine. Its walls, some ei2:ht feet hi2:h, were built 
of loose stone. Its roof was of tamarisk branches and 
roots, and its one opening served both for doorw^ay and 
window. An a2:ed Arab woman, two bris^ht little ur- 
chins and two camels were at home, but we passed on 
despite the loud invitations to call and share our back- 
sheesh. For a long distance the little boy and girl ran 
ea2:erlv bv our side. be2:2:ino^ for food, until some drv 
bread and vegetables from the cook were cast over- 
board in their direction, which quickly stopped their 
clamorous chase. 

What these Arabs do for food and drink is a mys- 
tery. Those having camels and goats can get along, 
but how about the camel and goat? On either side, as 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 195 

far as the eye can reach, stretch those plains of dreary 
sand, three grains of which will change a glass of 
fresh water quickly into salt. It is evident that some 
time, if not in the time of Noah, these vast plains 
were beneath the sea. Even now, at times, the eye 
catches a glimpse of fields of yellowish-white salt. 
Now and then, as in Ceylon, fair deposits of kaolin 
also crop out. We soon came to another bridge of 
four boats, and another caravan of camels bound for 
Syria in waiting. An oasis wdth olive, date, and other 
trees around a dwelling, could be seen in the distance. 
Arabs in row-boats were catching a long silvery fish, 
and others thronged around with plump red dates, too 
beautiful to look at. At gare-stone 49, 40 or 50 camels 
w^ith wooden boxes or cars on their backs, were busily 
engaged in carrying away the banks included in the 
Cairo side widening. Each Arab had charge of from 
three to four animals. They were a strange sight, with 
dark, gloomy faces beneath the universal large white 
turban, the scant blue cotton dress, and bare legs and 
feet, actively mingling with the awkward, cloven-footed 
and long-necked beasts, throwing in the sand on their 
recumbent bodies, pulling fiercely at their single rein 
for them to rise, or noisily shouting to get them to back 
around. Each beast, on arrival, was backed about, 
like a horse in a cart, and made to kneel. When he 
went down, he went down as though his legs had sud- 
denly been knocked out from under him, and with such 



196 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNXY LANDS, 

a woe-begone appearance you little expected a rise 
a2:ain even without his heavy load of sand. There 
they were, constantly falling and rising, at each at- 
tempt to rise sticking out their uncouth lips and dis- 
mally groaning as in strong protest. 

Farther on a similar band was engaged in the same 
occupation, and still further on mules were operating 
a little tramway of iron boxes, like those Lesseps is 
now trjdng to use on his Panama Canal. To the slow 
camel, a ride on an empt}' car drawn by a frisky mule 
is a great event to the wild Arab. He is yet to learn 
of the mighty lightning latent therein. " Fwoin baste ! 
fwoin baste ! " but as the Irishman was sadly and pain- 
fully picking himself up a minute later, he was heard 
muttering between his set teeth, '' Th-a-a ow-l-ld divil ! " 
It will be a revelation to '* Pharaoh " when it comes. 
He will not only marvel at such hidden activity but 
will quickly let "Israel" go. 

After proceeding a little further, we came up with 
the SS. Pelican, in moorings. ^^'e put out hawser 
fore and aft, and soon were moored also. We were fol- 
lowed by the Telamon, so that three large ocean steamers 
now lay moored to the left shore. Looking up at the 
signals, I saw that several balls and pennons were 
warning us ot approaching vessels. As the canal is 
now and then obstructed by a cur\^e, it is not possible 
to see but a few hundred feet. The sand dunes here, 
made by the original excavations, also increased the 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 197 

obstruction. We had now passed both Little and Great 
Bitter Lakes and the old Cairo canal. After several 
large steamers had passed, we went on to Lake Timsah, 
which, though very shallow, is quite large. Here the 
channel curves around between buoys and lights. Isma- 
lia appears, with green trees, Lesseps's chalet, and sev- 
eral respectable-looking buildings, while a little apart 
rises the brown and plainly outlined summer residence 
of the present Khedive. A little steam-launch pays us 
several short visits, leaving and taking passengers and 
exchanging pilots. Where we leave the lake, the 
passage is very narrow and the sides more elevated 
than elsewhere on the whole canal. I might have 
taken a train here for Cairo, or caravan for Palestine, 
but I could not go home without seeing the entire 
canal, so went on. Here, as on the Nile, were plenty 
of bull-rushes, but not a single Moses or Pharoah's 
daughter. Sometimes you see the tamarisk and some- 
thing like cypress, which are cut and woven into a 
protection for the banks of the canal, as in some places, 
as our motion sent the water rushing up the sand, large 
masses of earth would break off and fall back into the 
channel. Planks, too, and imported stones are used 
for the same purpose. About here we saw, on the left, 
quite a town with a few fine houses and one mosque. 
It was El Guisr. Boys and girls ran along the barks, 
begging for backsheesh and food, which they seldom 
got unless they swam for it, which they often did as 



198 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

eagerly as dogs. The girls wore large earrings and 
bracelets, which rattled loudly as they walked or ran. 

At sunset, upon a distant elevation, peacefully stood 
a dozen camels beautifully outlined against the golden 
sky. Only one tall date-palm, with a few Arab tents, 
seemed to relieve the view. As a picture of simple, 
joyous and peaceful content, it was an ideal. That 
night we moored and passed, in the canal. The great 
desert spread out on either side. Not a bird or beast 
disturbed the strange solitude. All was as quiet as 
the grave. The moon and stars came slowly out and 
turned the sand fields and banks into a mass of glis- 
tening gems. To think was as easy as to breathe. 
The mind seemed inspired, the heart aglow with feel- 
ing. Music, dancing, and merry laughter suddenly 
broke out on the still night, and soon the very banks 
were covered with groups of merry makers. Round 
and round, beneath the full, bright moon, whirred rings 
of joyous people, some in one direction some in an- 
other, until off they burst in a wild chase inland. 
Many of us were content with a quiet walk along the 
canal, and had a friend not lost a heavy gold bracelet, 
which obliged our return in search, we might have out- 
walked the moon. Fortune at last favored us in the 
finding, but as we were near the boat, we went no 
farther. The next morning, until 8 o'clock, a thick 
fog environed us, so we lost several precious hours in 
inactivity. A few spent the time in fishing, and drew 



lA^ A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 199 

aboard many a pretty little fellow, all gold and silver, 
like those in the tropics. A man came aboard with a 
large flock of speckled quail from the wilderness of 
Sinai. I also saw some cacti growing wild. When 
under way, the next station had a bright, pretty dwell- 
ing, some red flowers and a date-palm. At the next, 
at stone 24, houses appeared on both sides of the 
canal, and on the right a garrison of soldiers. There 
also was a postoffice, from which a small steamer car- 
ried and distributed the mail. We now came to Men- 
zaleh Lake or sea, through which the canal was orig- 
inally laid out as indicated by the dotted lines on the 
map, but now^ divided by solid earth-banks thrown up 
by the dredges. We now passed one of the Anchor 
Line fast aground, but still had the double passenger- 
decked Orient, from Australia, just ahead, and three 
other large steamers behind. 

While aw^aiting downward steamers, another caravan 
of camels passed. This was the sixth I had seen in 
less than two days. At this stop four steamers passed, 
one German, one French, and two English. At sta- 
tion or gare opposite post 7, there were three neat 
buildings, two date trees, and, away in the distance, 
another caravan preparing to encamp for the night. 
Just as the sun was sinking in the west, a loud bugle- 
call came down upon the quiet air with an effect most 
startling, followed quickly by a boom of cannon, then 
still another call. We had reached the Mediterranean. 



200 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

Right before us, on the left, was a small group of 
houses and many large docks crowded with shipping. 
From an Italian man-of-war, or its English neighbor, 
probably the latter, had come that startling martial 
sound. There were thirty or more steamers here, and 
long lines of coal lighters, illuminated by torches, were 
winding in and out supplying them with coal. Just as 
we came out, an immense Australian steamship, with its 
hurricane deck literally packed with men, women, and 
children, slowly passed. Most of the people were 
neatly dressed and happily engaged in household and 
Sunday-school songs. It was an impressive sight. 
So many leaving home and friends for an untried 
country, hardship, sickness and possibly death ! 

This is Port Said, and the Mediterranean, at last. 
It overlooks the sea, with a high ornamental light- 
house on the right, and a long breakwater, like a huge 
serpent, running back to the land. I looked behind me. 
Four immense, dazzling white lights were slowly bear- 
ing down from the canal directly upon us, like heavenly 
bodies broken loose from the sky. They were the 
electric eye of night, without which no boat in the 
canal is allowed to advance. We immediately went 
ashore. Several fair hotels were found, but what I 
wanted most, a boat for Jaffa, or old Joppa of Paul's 
time, was wanting. Some Arabs offered to take me 
over in a sail boat, but, not liking their appearance, I 
concluded to go on to Alexandria, where my wants 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 201 

would be readily met. So on we went, soon striking 
into the muddv-colored water of the eastern delta of the 
Nile- For miles vou can look out before vou and see 
its irregular line of demarkation from the pretty blue 
of the rest of the Mediterranean. A fresh breeze 
started up and drove away the many flies that had 
hovered about the vessel in the canal. Early the next 
morning, we again fell in with a broad expanse of yel- 
lowish-green water, which told me that we were oppo- 
site the western mouth of the Nile. Plenty of native 
sail-boats, but only one steamer, dotted the water. 

Soon after passing the yellowish sea border, Alexan- 
dria came gradually into view. High land, with forts 
and palaces, was backed by a large dome to the south. 
Large breaks in the walls appeared in every direction, 
showing that the late English bombardment had been 
no mere child's play. The Khedive's palace, with its 
plain, smooth walls and quaint Moorish architecture, 
soon disclosed itself behind a breakwater and light- 
house, then a dismantled fort on the west of the chan- 
nel which leads up to the inner harbor and docks. 
A pretty ^Mohammedan mosque, in an unfinished state, 
lies a little farther to the west. I was told it had 
lain in that condition for some time, and it would never 
be completed, as it was their custom to stop all work 
on an edifice of religious nature on the death of the 
Khedive who begins the work. I take another look at 
the Kedive's palace, for there it was that Arabi and 



202 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUNNY LANDS, 

his followers demanded the abdication of their ruler, 
and attempted his assassination. An English garrison 
stands close at hand, and many a trace of shot and 
shell are still observed in the neighborhood. Pompey's 
Pillar, away up on an elevation in the distance, caught 
my eye before I had hardly thought of its present exist- 
ence. As soon as we ceased to move, the same pell- 
mell rush, as in the East, but more annoying, after our 
freight and passengers again began. It was a tug-of- 
war. Arabs, Turks, Greeks, Montenegrins, and what 
not, pulled, pushed, and made boisterous capture. 
Did I know Admiral Franklin t — this swarthy fellov/ 
was once in the United States Na\y — and other less 
gentle reminders that he was the guide for me, and if 
one were humored, a dozen crowded around and 
menaced him to leave, and so on. If there were ever 
a Babel, surely Alexandria is one. I shook them all 
oft; would have tumbled the whole lot overboard if I 
had possessed the strength ; and went on shore with the 
officers of the Volga, on the company's steam-launch. 
Those who caught hold of my companions were 
promptly and soundly kicked, for as we went down the 
outside gangway, the natives caught hold of our cloth- 
ing and tried to drag us into their boats. It was a 
good lesson, for it made me keep on my guard every- 
where I went in this strange land. The French are 
loud and earnest in their condemnation of the English 
in their policy in Eg}'pt, and regard the latter as 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 203 

having no higher motive than to squeeze the country 
dry and then throw it rudely away. As I was having 
my baggage examined, it was suggested more than 
once, that a fee to the official would save delay and 
trouble, and to my surprise, I often saw it done. For 
myself, however, it seemed so dishonest, I always re- 
fused. The streets, from the docks up to the square, 
have sidewalks, but through the market which I vis- 
ited to view the native grains and fruit, the middle of 
the street was thronged with merchants, dealers, buy- 
ers and passers-by. Graceful and noble looking women 
with veiled faces, a queer ring and bar lattice over 
their shapely noses, and long ear-rings, wide bracelets, 
anklets, and long rows of convex silver disks strung 
across the forehead, merrily jingling in the air, 
erect as queens, crowd you on every side with urns, 
vases and receptacles of every kind and material on 
the head or in the hand. 

By chance you catch a glimpse of large, solemn black 
eyes beneath the veil which feminine curiosity or a 
chance breeze has brushed aside. Of course you here 
can gaze at a woman straight in the eye, if you wish. 
You get about as much pleasure by so doing as in 
staring at an empty negro mask at home. The men 
and boys are dressed in all styles imaginable, but usu- 
ally in a way approaching their different native cos- 
tumes. Both in Cairo and Alexandria besides Arabs, 



204 PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

Greeks and Montenegrins, there are many French, 
Germans and Itahans. 




AN EGYPTIAN WOMAN AND CHILD. 

I found the square, where the European famiUes 
stood siege and were so cruelly butchered, rebuilding 
on a grander scale than ever before. A large eques- 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLB. 205 

trian statue of one of their heroes ornaments the east- 
erly, section. A funeral, with all on foot and an 
immense catafalque covered and borne by men, passed 
before me as I entered. One of the queerest and most 
laughable sights are the little donkeys trotting along 
the streets, belabored from behind by shouting donkey 
boys or drivers. The poor animal, pegging along 
with two hundred pounds of European beef-eater on 
its weak back, reminds one of a toad under a harrow. 
Alexandria was for years the capital of Egypt, and 
from the fourth century before Christ to the seventh 
century after, it was the seat of literature and learning 
in the whole East. The famous Pharos, planned by 
Dinocrates, who rebuilt the temple of Diana at Ephe- 
sus, stood 400 feet high, not far northeast of Fort 
Ada, the Harem and the Palace. 

After Ptolemy Alexander gave the city to the Ro- 
mans, it was regarded the chief city in the world next 
to Rome. On its capture by Omar, every effort was 
made to save its large and valuable librarv^, then the 
largest in the world, but in vain. '^If the books con- 
tain the same doctrine as the Koran, they are unnecss- 
sary, and if contrary doctrines, they surely must be 
destroyed," said that worthy. So books, requiring 
years of study and self-sacrificing toil, were distributed 
about the city and used for fuel. Pompey's Pillar, a 
single shaft of red granite, 73 feet long, and 29 feet 
8 inches around, rises from a mound in the old part 



206 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

of the city 40 feet high. It has a capital in the Corin- 
thian style 9 feet high, and a base, making its net 
height about 99 feet. It was once surmounted by a 
statue of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and its tab- 
let informs you that the whole was erected in his 
honor. The city, before the opening of the Suez 
Canal, was of great importance, from the fact that the 
Eastern and Australian steamers ran up the Red Sea 
to Suez, and there landed passengers, mail and freight 
to be transported hither by rail for shipment ; but now 
only a very few passengers come that way, and no for- 
eign freight. 

The catacombs, hewn out of soft rock, are located 
in the old part near the mosque, and some large stone 
wind-mills, unseen outside of Holland. Near by is an 
elevation with a grove of date-palms. The latter were 
so tempting I could not help lingering, long gazing up 
the slim trunks rising sixty feet into the sky, and 
admiring the long clusters of rich, red dates heavily 
drooping downward. The pendant fruit, in general 
appearance, looks like an immense barberry cluster, 
although the depth and shade of color is quite unlike. 
In Arabia I had plucked the fruit when turning from 
yellowish-green to this ripe red, and held them up to 
the sun. The sweet juices were plainly seen grouping 
and crystalizing into sugar. This experiment was 
generally quickly followed by a sudden movement 
mouthward, and all was soon over. Ah, how I miss 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 207 

those gurgling juices ! For the first time in all my 
long journey, I found the Bank of England note at 3 
per cent discount, and English and American gold 
nearly the same. The brokers here sit out on the street 
before a low cabinet, in which they keep their queer 
collections of money, and transact business as though 
it were but a peanut stand. Of the coin, I can only 
remember the mejideh, a large silver coin of the size 
of our dollar, the piastre, silver like our dime, para, 
and a lot of other copper coins from the size of our 
dollar down to the old half-cent. 

Having viewed the town, we went down to the south- 
west end for the train, and I was soon bowling along 
up the Nile to Cairo, about five hours' ride, or 150 
miles by rail. We were, at first, impressed with the 
similarity between this city and Alexandria. Mounds 
of rubbish disfigure its otherwise picturesque exterior. 
A massive citadel in the southern part stands in place 
of the great dome in the centre of new Alexandria, 
and the narrow, crooked streets and mud houses of 
both cities are identical; but, on the whole, I liked 
both this city and its mixed or varied population much 
better. It has several wide streets, and the one over 
which we drove to the pyramids was well shaded by 
acacia and sycamore trees. An iron bridge here 
spans the Nile, and if one has no desire to go into the 
suburbs beyond Bulak, he can now do so with a little 
comfort and pleasure. A large part of the capital has 



208 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

of late been improved, so that it looks as well as any- 
European city. The English have garrisons, a perma- 
nent colony and a church, and the Germans have all 
but the garrison, but the Mohammedans outnumber all 
other people and religious sects two to one, and have 
about 400 mosques, which add a picturesque effect to 
the whole city that would be impossible to obtain in 
any other way. 

The citadel rises 250 feet above the streets, and is 
said to have been built by Saladin in 1166. This con- 
tains a mosque of Oriental alabaster, and a palace 
built by Mahomet Ali. In this section of the city 
rises its most beautiful edifice, the Mosque of Sultan 
Hasan. It was built in 1357, and bewilders the eye 
with the grandeur of its arches and cornices, its min- 
erets, domes and delicate tracery. Words fail to rep- 
resent Oriental splendor. Many a time I have stood 
gazing, with full consciousness that my eyes might 
never in this life view such scenes again, while from 
the arched doorways the stalwart Turk, in pure w^hite 
turban, gold-lace jacket and flowing dress, gravely 
paced the neighboring tessellated pavement. The 
grand, the magnificent and the delicate, all are here. 
It but wants the slanting rays of the setting sun to 
reproduce St. John's ideal of Heaven. Many such a 
sight, and perhaps in these identical places, he may 
have seen and treasured up, to appear again, as in his 
lonely prison he penned the Revelation. Bulak, a 



/.V A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 209 

suburb on the northwest, contains, besides a hospital, 
a cotton mill, a paper mill, a Government printing- 
press and a museum of Egyptian antiquities. The 
latter of which should certainly be visited. 

Up the Nile a short drive, on the island opposite old 
Cairo, stands a pillar some forty feet high, inserted in a 
well-shaped inclosure fifteen feet wide. It is the Nilo- 
meter or means of determining the height of the river's 
annual rise. The water always rises to thirty-two feet, 
but forty feet is the most desirable point, as a less rise 
would not fertilize so large an extent of country as 
desirable, while to rise above that point would mean 
injury, if not destruction, to both country and property. 
The Nile had now reached its height, and was begin- 
ning to subside. Over opposite was a palace and 
harem. A little to the north is where Moses was 
found playing with the frogs and bulrushes. A few 
hours before, I had been shown where, as they claim, 
the Ark rested, also the spot where my noted name- 
sake was so obedient that the Lord sent an animal to 
butt against some neighboring trees to draw away his 
old father's attention. If the truth were told, I be- 
lieve Abraham was first made aware of its presence 
by sudden activity in the rear, and that it was no less 
than a determination to get even with the little rascal 
that led at last to Isaac's fortunate escape. 

From here it is but six miles to the pyramids, and 
along a road shaded somewhat bv trees. Palms are 



210 PLEASANT HOURS TiW SUNXY LANDS, 

seen, and also fir trees, on our left, the blue Nile 
stretching out before, and a little to one side the lofty 
triangles piercing the sky. They seem nearly as high 
here at Cairo as on the journey, and when you have paid 
your mejideh to the neighboring sheik, and stand at 
the base, there still is little change except in the 
greater roughness of the exterior or the protuberance 
of their side-layers. The first you visit is that of 
Cheops, 780 feet high, with a base of 764x764 feet. It 
is said that it employed 360,000 men for twenty years 
to complete it, and 100,000 men ten years to construct 
a suitable way from the Nile over which to transport 
the immense granite blocks, which had been brought 
by water from the quarries hundreds of miles above. 
It seems plain that the idea that the body would again 
be tenanted by the soul led to these stupendous tombs. 
There are three large and three small pyramids here. 
The summit of the Cheops is 32 feet square. The en- 
trance is always from the North, uneven, circuitous 
and on many levels. Sarcophagi have been found in 
all, and mummies of many of the early Egyptian 
rulers now rest in the Bulak, French and British Mu- 
seums. The Sphinx, a lion's body with human head, 
stands but a short distance away, a giant in form but 
shorn of much of its beauty and attractiveness. It 
seems to be cut from the solid rock. Its true height 
is supposed to be 142 feet. It is said to be 102 feet 
around its forehead. Beneath its enormous nostrils 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 



211 




212 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

was stationed an altar for sacrifice, as it was a local 
deity. Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, lies a 
little farther en to the southeast of the Sphinx. Only 
a few hillocks remain to identify its site. 

But I have detained you too long, so let us return 
by beautiful Rhodes, the whirling dervishes or priests, 
to the spot where the ruler used to ride horseback over 
the prostrate forms of the returned Mecca pilgrims. 
Far from the southeast section, even now, as of old, 
large caravans go out on this still sacred pilgrimage, 
although they seldom now exceed 7,000 against 25,000, 
as formerly. They leave and return annually, and both 
occasions are sacredly observed as holidays. By arched 
doorways, through which I can see fountains playing 
and orange blossoms, through narrow, covered streets 
to the canal, and then to the station, I reach the rail- 
way and return to the Mediterranean. As I leave the 
dock to walk aboard the steamer, a group of veiled 
women are sifting scattered grain and coffee, to free it 
from the gravel and dirt for home use, a sight not 
uncommon in any Eastern city where economy is 
imperative. 

The women of Northern Egypt wear a more elaborate 
costume than I had seen for months. It may be on 
account of European influence. The men wear flow- 
ing trousers, a small vest, an embroidered jacket and 
low cap, or large white turban. The women, besides 
the first-mentioned article, have dress open at the sides, 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 213 

gold lace jacket with long, flowing sleeves, a white 
muslin veil from their forehead running back, and a 
similar one flowing down over their face so as to protect 
all but the eyes, and often reaching as low as the hem 
of their dress. In strong contrast to their soft, clear, 
dark complexions stand out the strings of white orna- 
ments festooned from brow or clasped about their 
shapely necks and shoulders. When you meet one such 
like Miriam in the wilderness giving expression to her 
pent-up joy, you see poetry of motion in lines you 
never forget. Another common scene is that with the 
skilful but sly necromancer. He is everywhere. The 
first I met was a strapping great fellow, in huge white 
turban, green jacket, and trousers so full as to resemble 
a skirt. In a wide cotton girdle he carried several 
ancient coins, a knife, some matches, two scorpions, 
and one of the loveliest white and yellow rabbits ever 
seen. The number and nature of his strange perform- 
ances were startUng. He would put one of his coins 
into your hand and request you to hold it firmly. 
Then, with an upward glance, murmuring " Allah ! 
Allah ! '' he would make outward passes with his arms 
and suddenly stop, bend down and pick out the very 
coin from between the ugly scorpion's feet. It is the 
first intimation of his trick, and before opening your 
hand you instinctively press your fingers more closely 
to make sure the coin is still there. To your bewil- 
dering astonishment you feel little but your own soft 



214 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

palm. You nervously open it. You find just what 
you felt — absolutely nothing. 

He next takes the two squirming scorpions and, as 
though they were so many rich dates, slowly chews 
them up. He then commences to playfully tease the 
gentle little rabbit, which stands up, rolls over, curls 
up its pretty feet and goes to sleep on its woolly back 
until, with a strange, hollow murmur, this man's two 
fingers are inserted into the little fellow's mouth, which 
now, we remember, had been growing fuller and fuller, 
until its cheeks stood out like those of Jacky Horner^ 
and drawn slowly forth is one wriggling, yellowish 
scorpion, closely followed by the other. He next un- 
wound from his head his long white turban, twelve or 
more feet in length, and doubled it. Giving one end 
to one of us, he drew his knife and deliberately severed 
it in the middle. We all, at his request, examined the 
separated parts, and promptly returned them to the 
owner. He stooped and struck a match. Rising, he 
held the lighted match beneath the severed ends until 
they flamed and became charred. Then, taking the 
charred ends and gently blowing out the flames, he 
carefully rubbed the injured fabric between his palms, 
muttering in soft, liquid tones, " Allah ! Allah ! Allah ! " 
when, with a slow, graceful flourish, he sent floating 
out in the air before our very faces the same length of 
spotless white, the old turban reunited, and while we 
looked to one another in amazement, he silently ap- 



I.V A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 215 

reached, and in a most insinuating way implored 
" Backsheesh ! backsheesh ! " 

But the time had come to bid Eg}^pt adieu. 

It was a lovely night, wdth the stars like moons in 
their effulgence, and the moon like a burnished silver 
shield. The dancing weaves, tipped with silver, ran 
merrily before a stiff breeze and lapped the vessel's 
side with soft, pleasant sounds, as if in tender caress. 
Our swarthy pilot, in red and gold, disappeared at 
last over the rail, his large, white turban reflecting 
light not very unlike the moon above, and w^as soon 
wafted back to harbor, and we were left to pursue our 
course alone. It was a fitting occasion for contem- 
plation, and yet thought failed to come. Even now, 
Egypt holds me speechless. China seems like a babe 
compared with this ancient home of man. The more 
you see, the more irresistible its influence. Even the 
bulrush and papyrus are as potent as its rivers and 
the pyramiids. Like the annual rise and fall of its 
sacred Nile, nations have risen to power only to dis- 
appear again, and we almost feel like pitying Arabi in 
his deplorable failure to succeed in the unification and 
improvement of his people. Arabi was brave, but of 
no great knowledge even of his native land. As I 
saw^ him strolling along the shore in his exile home in 
Colombo, I did not realize the great need of a new^ 
prophet to his native people, or the tender attachment 
he must have felt for Cairo, where he lived and was 



216 PLEASANT HO URS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

captured. Perhaps, he determined, if taken at all, 
to surrender in this his Heaven. As he paces the 
silent shore at sunset, and gazes on the western sky, 
his imagination can easily picture the splendor and 
magnificence of his home beneath. 




A COIN FROM CAIRO. 



CHAPTER Vin. 

The jackal in the field, 
The Turk within the town, 
Alas, fair Holy Land ! 

FROM Alexandria to Jaffa it is a good fifteen hours' 
sail, and then you have to take your chance of landing 
safely, or, at least, getting a good ducking. The Arab 
boats cluster around, as soon as your arrival becomes 
known, and thus you fortunately escape being carried 
beyond to Beyrout. As you catch a first glimpse of 
its terraced slopes and low buildings, you are a little 
disappointed, as it fails to please one just hailing from 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 217 

the splendor of Cairo. Yet this is the oldest harbor 
in the world. The King of Tyre brought here the 
cedars of Lebanon for Solomon's temple, and, if tra- 
dition is correct, it was here that Noah built the Ark. 
Jonah is also said to have sailed from here, and judg- 
ing from the boisterous sea, it is most likely that 
Jonah was here cast up. It is no miracle. Ask my 
suffering companions. They still show you the house 
of Simon, the tanner, where Peter had his vision, and 
recalled Tabitha to life. Although on a hillside, and 
with poor and dirty streets, it has some pretty orange 
and lemon trees, and also the tall C3rpress, for partial 
compensation. Jaffa at one time stood seige from 
Napoleon, but was obliged at last to yield. You leave 
for Jerusalem as soon as you can get conveyance, and 
if early in the morning, you can reach it the same 
night, and also see Lydda, its Church of St. George 
destroyed by Saladin, and still an interesting ruin, and 
Ramleh with its three convents and two mosques. 
This place was the scene of many encounters between 
Saladin and the Crusaders under Richard Coeur de 
Lion. It is but a small town. 

You next come to Emmaus, where the Lord met his 
two disciples, whose hearts burned but knew him not, 
for it was after his crucifixion. As you catch a glimpse 
of the Holy City in the distance, with its solid, high 
wall, its many domes and minarets, you are quickly 
carried back to Eg}'pt, and if one would be content to 



218 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

remain outside and ride around to the north and east, 
his pleasure would quite appease his high anticipa- 
tions. But the moment you enter the Jaffa gate, you 
know what to expect, and if you do not, you soon find 
it. Were it not for seeing the Mosque of Omar and 
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I should beg you 
not to enter, that you might think of this once proud 
city as one of purity and light. The Turk is every- 
where — soldier, magistrate and police. The money is 
Turkish, the dress is Turkish, the smell is Turkish. 
There appears to be nothing, unless you dig down 
thirty or forty feet beneath all this rubbish and filth, 
to which the Christian can pin his faith. Would you 
bathe in the pool of Siloam ? Only in imagination, 
friend. 'Tis very bad. Would you sit by sweet, 
gliding Kedron and list to its gentle murmur t After 
you have succeeded in trying a hundred or two of the 
hot stones in its dry bed, each one hotter than the 
other, and w^asted nearly a year of your life waiting 
for a sight of water, you will sadly repent and sud- 
denly move on. You will then, perhaps, mournfully 
appreciate the western wail and lift up your voice with 
the many unhappy Jews there assembled, and refuse 
to be comforted. This is the Jews' " Wailing Place," 
where the stones are worn smooth by their lips. 
Every Friday they here crowd around and loudly la- 
ment over the loss of their Holy City. 

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, among other 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 219 

things, includes within its sacred walls the stone where 
the Lord's body was anointed before burial, the stone 
where the Angel sat announcing the Resurrection, the 
tomb itself, six feet square, containing a white marble 
sarcophagus, where the body of Christ lay, and where 
Mary saw the two angels, where forty-two gold and 
silver lamps, presented by different European rulers 
are kept constantly burning, the square platform of 
Calvary where Christ was crucified — though the place 
is probably outside the Damascus gate — and many 
other objects of real interest, even if not believed 
authentic. 

By passing south through the Jaffa gate, you will in 
six hours be able to see Bethlehem a little to the south, 
and get a sight of Hebron farther on. A short dis- 
tance out is the Elias Convent, where that prophet was 
fed by the angels. Bethlehem is a pretty and attract- 
ive town seen at a distance, and, strange to say, nearly 
all of its inhabitants are Christians. Here, in a mon- 
astery, is shown the place of the Nativity. It is 
within a church of Lebanon cedar, built in the fourth 
century by Helena, mother of Constantine, and is the 
oldest Christian church in the world. You descend a 
flight of steps, and enter a marble hall, 38x12 feet. 
A silver star at the eastern end attracts your imme- 
diate attention. You read : 

" Hic DE ViRGiNE Maria Jesus Christus natus est." 



220 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

In a recess is a marble manger. Here, then, is a mar- 
ble manger in a cave. If you step into the Church 
Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, you will find a wooden 
manger, claimed to be the genuine original. St. 
Jerome lived and died here, in a neighboring grotto, 
and not far beyond is a chapel where the angel herald 

sang: 

*' Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men." 

Hebron lies still farther south, and in its precincts lies 
the cave of Macpelah, with the bones of Abraham and 
Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Leah and Joseph. The 
spot is marked by a mosque. 

Jericho, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea require about 
two days, and is an interesting trip. Leaving the 
eastern gate you descend into a valley and ascend the 
Mount of Olives, over the road Christ often passed on 
his way to Bethany, and if you take the road to the 
right you will soon see Bethany right before you. 
Poor, dilapidated Bethany ! You are constantly de- 
scending until you reach New Jericho. It is a mere 
mass of loose stone huts, like those in Arabia, and of 
very forbidding appearance. When you reach the 
placid lake sparkling between the high banks below, 
you are by the Dead Sea, 1300 feet below the Mediter- 
ranean, with Jerusalem 4000 feet above you. Rushes, 
reeds and overhanging trees enclose its northern bor- 
der, and nothing unusually unpleasant detracts from 
its quiet beauty. It is salt, heavy and buoyant, 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 221 

however, as one would expect, and were it not for the 
constant accession of the fresh water of the Jordan, it 
would be much more so. The Jordan is soon reached, 
and can be crossed by either ford or bridge. It is a 
memorable stream, and yet you fail to realize how it 
formerly looked. Now, at the ford, the steep fall to 
the Dead Sea gives it a strong current. Formerly the 
willows and rushes can hardly have been so abundant. 
It was then probably more than fifty feet wide. 

As you pass over the level plain, where once old 
Jericho stood, memory recalls its former splendor of 
palm and fruit gardens. Near here, Herod the Great 
lived and died. These groves and gardens Cleopatra 
received as a gift from Mark Antony. Here occurred 
the clever scene of 

'*Zaccheus he did climb the tree, 
His Lord to see.*' 

As illustrated in the old New England Primer. His 
house is pointed out occupied by a Turkish guard, but 
it is strange they do not show a like ingenuity in ex- 
hibiting the tree. Armenians, Syrians, Greeks, Copts, 
Russians, English, French and Americans all flock 
down through this plain to view where Elijah led 
Elisha through Jordan's waters, and ascended to 
Heaven. Where Christ was baptized by John, where 
Joshua and the Israelites crossed, where Namaan was 
healed of leprosy, and Elisha made an axe-head float. 
If the said instrument had a wooden head — or the 



222 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

reporter of the event, which is more likely — it is quite 
explicable. Sodom and Gomorrah are supposed to 
have been located near the Dead Sea just below. 
Where on its high banks no one knows. The only 
points about the sea, of interest to me, were its great 
depth of 1,300 feet, and its surprising gravity and 
buoyancy. The axe, if broad, like the ancient battle 
axe, might here even now for a considerable time re- 
main suspended on its surface. 

It was farther towards the Jordan that I met the 
only attractive flower in all this wild region. It was a 
magnificent oleander. This flower seems never to miss 
the care of man, and grows wild by the banks of the 
river, a proud surviv^or of the country's former glory. 
As far as I could observe, it is the Germans alone 
\vho have restored any great part of Judea to its former 
condition or fruitfulness. They have settled here and 
there, founded schools and churches, and tilled the 
soil till it blossoms like the rose. Away from this 
people, nothing but spiritual experiences out of the 
country's associations with Bible history can make 
your journey even tolerable. Your property, person, 
life, even, is as unsafe beyond the Eastern gate of Jeru- 
salem as in the Middle Ages. A party of Americans 
Avere surrounded and captured by Bedouins to the 
south of me, and a party of Englishmen just a little to 
the north, and although I escaped a like experience, it 
was by the skin of my teeth. My enforced stay, also, 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 223 

at a place where the livelong night, a grizzy old Arab, 
at regular intervals, broke out in fierce complaint, in a 
tone calculated to awaken both Abraham and Ishmael, 
was nearly as bad, for repeated fright is often worse 
than death. The dress of the people varies according 
to the nationality. The Turk, as in E'jypt, has low 
cap or large turban, broad trousers, and red or yellow 
morocco shoes ; the Arab, cap or turban, flowing dress 
and bright sash. Besides these there are many Copts, 
Jews and Armenians. The latter are generally Chris- 
tians, and are constantly leaving their native land to 
escape the tyranny of the Shah of Persia, who is ^NIo- 
hammedan. Several young men, w^ho had evaded the 
Shah's commands that no Armenian should leave the 
country, came to Europe in my company, and one to 
New York. Their aim is education for the ministry, 
so they can return and better cope with the Moham- 
medan. What I saw of Mohammedanism in its 
mosques, a standing crowd beneath the reader's desk, 
now in response and now in loud lamentations, awak- 
ened too mixed a feeling to appreciate their form of 
worship. The splendor of the edifice seemed profaned. 
Perhaps it is but a type of our own spiritual life in the 
"Temple not made by hands.'* 

Many scenes familiar to the Bible student are daily 
encountered. The ox, threshing or drawing the rude 
one-handled w^ooden plough, the tare and the wheat, 
the lily of the field, the goatskin w^ater bottles swung 



224 PLEASANT HOURS IX SUNXY LANDS, 

over the shoulder, the sandal, the fig and palm trees, 
the hand mill for grinding grain, and the ass, raven 
and vulture. One more I must add, the most potent 
and sacred, around which often memory clings as on 
no other object. As we return from the Jordan and 
pass over the brow of Mt. Olivet, we descend towards 
a valley and stop by an enclosure containing some half 
a dozen ancient trees. Gnarled, seared and broken, 
they awaken a feeling of pity for themselves alone, but 
feeling deepens when we recognize that this lonely 
spot is Gethsemane, the garden of our Savior's grief. 
We linger long and tenderly, assured, at last, its past 
was real indeed. This we could feel, this no man 
change, and slowly to the gate, turning now and then 
for yet one more last look, we passed into the busy 
crowed. 

The next day I was again bounding along the deep, 
blue sea in the same course taken by Paul to prose- 
cute his appeal to Csesar. Cyprus, Crete and Clauda 
in turn passed before my view, and strange to say, the 
vessel of each was from Alexandria. Greece from a 
low coast begins at Navarino to grow^ bolder, till soon 
nothing but mountains and ravines appear. Zante, a 
good-sized island with hilly interior and sloping sides, 
soon appeared in view. It is dotted over with scat- 
tering dwellings, and much of its soil is given up to 
the cultivation of a small, seedless grape, which is 
dried and exported under the name of currant. Con- 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 225 

trary to general belief, it is not a bush fruit like our 
currant, nor is its culture confined to this pretty island. 
In western Greece I found the same fruit in large 
quantities. The slopes were bright with grain, and fig 
and olive trees. Zante is its leading place on the 
east coast. Xext follovred the large island Cephalonia, 
with its pretty seaport. Argostoli. Missolonghi, where 
Byron fought and died, lies just across the deep, blue 
water in the rear. Xext came Corfu, with its pretty 
and attractive hills. As far as you can see to the 
right, the Gulf of Patras stretches out towards Corinth 
and eastern Greece. To the south, the Gulf of Arca- 
dia, with Olympia, celebrated for the ancient Gre- 
cian games, looms up in the distance. Farther back, 
away to the east, lie Mts. Parnassus and Olympus. 

While conversing with the captain, he informed me 
of his early life, and pointed out to me his native town 
nestling among the hills of Cephalonia. Xight or day, 
in this fresh, healthy climate, one loves to breathe. 
Beneath you lies the deep-blue, white-fringed wave, 
and above, in the wide expanse of sapphire sky. no 
cloud by day and myriads of flashing, brilliant lights 
swinging ever nearer to your side at night. Four of 
my companions were young Brahmins from the interior 
of India on their way to England for a collegiate 
course at Oxford. Until they left their native land, 
they had - never seen the sea, and their handsome, 
manly faces always lighted up in enthusiastic contem- 



226 PLEASAXT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

plation of nature's brilliant panorama. Passing thus 
along the bold coast of Turkey and ^lontenegro, we 
soon made a western tack and saw the old castle of 
Fred. II. and Charles XII. rising out of the sea directly 
before us. This, then, is Brindisi, Diomed's town, 
where ended the old Appian way mentioned by 
Horace and Roman historians. Here Irene wedded 
Roger, son of Tancred, and here, also, Virgil died. 
Here came the noble Roman to embark for Greece, and 
the Crusader for the land of Saladin. It is now the 
port for the Australian and India English mail route, 
and lies at the extreme south-eastern point of Italy. 
We were soon alongside of a dock with two modern 
hotels just across the street, and old Roman ruins on 
either side. Away over across the bay rose two pretty 
villas occupied by Italian wine merchants. The olive, 
fig, pomegranate and grape, in the rich soil and mellow 
air, are fast ripening. Drawn by one shaft horse, with 
a donkey or smaller horse tugging at its side, dyed 
purple with wine, and slopping the rich juice like water, 
are constantly rolling by large, long barrel-like wagons 
of wine fresh from the vintage. 

A little farther on another liquid is being transported 
in a more primitive and laughable fashion. A large 
goat is calmly leading a full half dozen or more com- 
panions along the open street, tinkling a large cow-bell 
suspended from her neck, while behind lazily trudge a 
man and boy calling out the well-known milkman's cry. 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 227 

A woman issues forth from a neighboring doorway and 
holds out a jar, whereupon, after some searching, the 
old man finds the desirable source of supply and, sink- 
ing down, abstracts just the quantity of lacteal fluid 
ordered, and deliberately turns it into the customer's 
receptacle. Years ago, I saw the same experiment 
near Hyde Park, London, but on that time, with the 
nobler animal, the cow. While entering the park, I 
saw a sign, on one of the booths, advertising the sale 
of fresh milk, and turning, I saw a girl approach the 
gentle animal and extract about a pint of fresh, rich 
liquid, and hand it to her waiting customer, who pub- 
licly swallowed it as greedily as a young calf. 

Walking up into the place, I found two very old 
cathedrals, one not much in use, towards which a long 
line of men, women and children were swiftly moving. 
Behind the leader, bearing his full hands aloft, came 
stout priests, a bier with remains, and a group of black 
dressed women tearing their hair, throwing up their 
arms wildly into the air, and filling the ear with piercing 
lamentations. Not far distant stood forty or fifty men 
in pairs. As they moved, I heard the jingle of steel, 
and approaching, I observed that each couple was 
united by a chain, and that all were, in turn, fastened 
to a longer chain between them. A small guard of 
Italian soldiers seemed to have them in charge. They 
were prison convicts, interrupted in their course to the 
water by the long funeral procession to the Cathedral. 



228 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

Women and girls sit at their doorways winding off 
from reels cotton and linen thread and yarn, while 
within could be heard the well-known sound of shuttle 
and reed. High on a terrace, overlooking the pretty 
land-locked harbor and its sea castle beyond, are two 
weather-beaten columns, one a symbol of Italy's rare 
fertility of soil for vine culture, and the other com- 
memorating in old Latin, too defaced to be legible, 
some important local event. 

But little can be seen of the old road to Rome, de- 
scribed so vividly by Horace. For centuries this was 
the main thoroughfare to Greece, and many a philoso- 
pher, statesman and poet has trod the way my feet 
were then taking. The way is there, but a large part 
of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in 141 6. 
As if there were to be an instant repetition of that 
calamity, the church bells suddenly burst out in wild 
jargon. What a noise for such a little place ! It 
brought back my former experiences in the North of 
Italy where, years ago, it seemed to me that every 
house contained a bell, and every street a priest. 
After seeing the town it became necessary for me to 
choose whether I would continue on with my Palestine 
companions, or continue with my original plan. As I 
never had sailed the blue Adriatic, or seen much of 
Turkey and Austria, I concluded to separate and go to 
Trieste and Venice. When about to set sail, my atten- 
tion was drawn to a crowd around a returning fisher- 



IX A TOUR AROUXD THE WORLD. 229 

man, who was actively jumping around and tr}dng to 
run a knife into a queer-looking object in the bottom 
of his boat. It was not a fish, neither did it look much 
like a crab, yet numerous long tentacles, like so many 
serpents, opened and closed as if to crush ever}'thing 
within reach. I had seen the same creature before, so 
it was not long before I made it plain to an army 
friend that it was an octopus. On the shores of the 
Eastern Islands they often are a terror, and feared 
more than the shark, for once in the grasp of one of 
these strong creatures, it is almost impossible to wound 
them so that they will release their hold, and they are 
soon scrambling off with their prey. Passing two 
large laurel wreaths hung in memory of Victor Em- 
manuel, we saluted the guard and went on board. 

Out towards the bold, rough country of Montenegro, 
and hugging the rough Turkey shore, we soon bowled 
along the blue Adriatic as in a dream. Fleecy clouds, 
driven by the breeze, kept us jolly company, while just 
above, others were skurrying as fast in the opposite 
direction. Often on the ocean, in the trade winds, 
this phenomenon is more marked, for besides the 
lower stratum of clouds accompan}dng the vessel and 
the next upper as swiftly flying in the opposite direc- 
tion, there is still a higher, either stationer}- or appar- 
ently following the vessel's course. Herzegovina and 
Dalmatia were soon seen and passed. A ver}^ few 
villages in these wild countries are so open to view as 



230 PLEAS A XT HOURS IX SUXXY LAXDS, 

to be plainly seen. As soon as we reached Austria 
the rain fell in torrents, and drove me to the piano for 
occupation. 

It not long after cleared away, ho\\ever, as suddenly 
as it came, and right before my startled eyes, as if 
growing out of the rippling sea, rose green foliage, 
massive edifices and mighty domes. It was a scene 
of real enchantment. Instead of the high and rugged 
hills of a few hours before, solid masonry with nothing 
but the water, apparently, to spring from soon stood 
out on both sides of me, as firmlv as if carved from 
soHd rock. We were crossing the Grand Canal of 
Venice. St. Maria della Salute, with its immense 
dome and grand proportions, was in plain view until I 
reached the dock. Boats, long, slender and low, pro- 
pelled by one oar in the hands of a standing oarsman, 
flocked to the vessel's side, and we were soon seated 
in the little queer cabin of a gondola. These long, 
narrow boats are in deep black, and many of their 
cabins, which arise like a buggy top in the centre, are 
richly carved. They run to a sharp Une each end, 
and carry a little torch for night use. They serve the 
place of our hacks, coaches and horse-cars, as the 
streets of Venice are water-ways only. A small steam- 
launch, now, also plies up the Grand Canal, the princi- 
pal street, so to speak. But, if you have the courage, 
you can find narrow walks alongside of the houses, 
over tiny arched bridges and through its small squares. 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 231 

I soon became so familiar with these in my trips after 
the Rialto, Bridge of Sighs, and St. Mark's, that, to- 
day, I feel perfectly safe in any part of this quaint old 
city. The place is built on seventy-two islands and is 
rightly called the "Queen of the Adriatic." Its 146 
water-ways are crossed by 306 stone bridges, each like 
the Rialto, which is located some distance up the 
Grand Canal, steeply rising and laid with steps. 

The Rialto differs, however, in having two walls sep- 
arating the middle way, or bazaar, from the crossings 
on each side. Its stone steps are worn into deep hol- 
lows, though the amount of business transacted in the 
queer place cannot be very great. Shakespeare has 
immortalized the place, however, and the American 
tourist should leave the gondola and climb its rough 
steps once, at least, or he will afterwards regret it. The 
old Bridge of Sighs has a sadder interest. 

**My beautiful, my own, 
My only Venice — this is breath ! Thy breeze, 
Thine Adrian sea breeze, how it fans my face ! 
The very winds feel native to my veins, 
And cool them into calmness I " 

It had quite escaped my mind, when turning to the 
left from the avenue leading from St. Mark's to the 
water, niy eye happened to glance up and rested, in 
an instant, upon a covered way from the Doge's 
Palace to the massive granite prison, even now wnth 
iron-barred windows. Byron has truthfully written, — 



232 PLEASAXr HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS. 

*' I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs ; 
A palace and a prison on each hand ; 
I saw from out the waves her structures rise, 
As from the stroke of the enchanter's wand." 

It is high in the air, above the second story, at least, 
and beneath flows a narrow, skiggish canal into the sea. 
In the right hand building were confined state and 
other prisoners. It is 'a gloomy though substantial 
building even now. Over this high-covered way was 
led in chains the poor unfortunate to receive his sen- 
tence in the building opposite. This edifice was a 
palace, grand even now but showing signs of decay, and 
in process of substantial repair on its water side. 

But let me not forget St. Mark's Cathedral. It 
must have been nearly 2 P. M. when I entered a large 
arched passageway of the Royal Palace, and found 
myself face to face with a long, narrow, paved square. 
Hundreds of eager doves, like snow-flakes, filled the 
air and so obstructed the view that for some minutes 
nothing else could be distinguished. When finally set- 
tled, the pavement seemed literally covered with them. 
I now saw before me, rising to a great height, a square, 
reddish tower, which I recognized as the Campanile, 
or bell tower. At its base stood a lady and attendant, 
who but a few minutes before, I suppose, had strewn 
the square with grain. Not knowing the hour for this 
well-know^n and pretty custom, it took me quite by sur- 
prise, but nothing could exceed my joy when my eyes 
caught sight, a little to the left of the bell tower, of the 



IX A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 233 

sweeping arches, gilded tracer}\ and soft colors of St. 
Mark's. Surely, it was a vision ! If it is so beautiful 
to-day, what must have been its effect when fresh and 
new ! It dates back to 829, when it was founded as a 
ducal chapel, but did not become a cathedral until 
1807. Its architects were from Constantinople, who 
imported 600 marble pillars to support its massive 
decorations, from distant Greece. Grandly rises before 
you one misfht^' arch or alcove, richlv adorned with 
bright, colored mosaics and gold. This is flanked on 
each side v^^ith others of smaller radius, but alike 
radiant with decorations, blending the Moorish so 
happily with the Italian style that you are quite content 
in thinking yourself in both Cairo and *Rome at the 
same time. The bronze horses of Chio, brought as 
plunder from Constantinople in 1206, and in turn taken 
by Napoleon, in 1797, to adorn the triumphal arch in 
the Place du Carrousel in Paris, now replaced stand 
conspicuously forth from marble arch and column. 

The spot where, in 1177, Frederick Barbarossa and 
Pope Alexander III. met in reconciliation is marked 
by a small, reddish tile in the vestibule. The pave- 
ment is worn and cracked, but is richly built of agate, 
jasper and colored marble. The columns are of 
porph}Ty and verd-antique, while both inside and out 
large and rich pictures in mosaic greet the eye in every 
direction. A piece of the Saviour's dress, the stone on 
which he stood while preaching to the people of T)Te, 



234 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

and many other precious relics are still shown you 
here. The whole square is surrounded by princely 
buildings, flanked on the outer side by tessellated, 
arched walks or passageways, among which are the 
Doges Palace, the Palace of the Nobles, and Royal 
Palace. Near by is the Library of St. Mark, contain- 
ing many rare manuscripts, such as Homer's Iliad and 
a part of the Odyssey, of Sophocles, and nearly all the 
works of Cicero. Nearly opposite are the columns of 
St. John of Acre, with inscription in Latin dating as far 
back as the seventh century, accompanied by a red 
porphyry column, from which, in olden time, a herald 
proclaimed the law. 

The bell tower, referred to, dates back to 903. It is 
320 feet high, and contains the home of a watchman, 
who, at stated intervals, rings the bell. Among the 
paintings worthy of especial mention, is that of ^' Para- 
dise," 84x332 feet, by Tintoretto, said to be the 
largest canvas in the world, and one of ^'Venice in the 
Clouds," by Paul Veronese. The home of Shakes- 
peare's Shylock is now a pawn-broker's shop, and 
Othello, or Christopher Moro, lived here on Campo del 
Carmine. Both Titian and Tintoretto had houses here, 
as did also Marco Polo, the renowned traveller. Mon- 
uments to Canova and Titian can be seen in St. Maria 
Gloriosa. The church St. Maria della Salute, before 
mentioned, has a history. In 1630, 60,000 inhabitants 
were carried away by a pestilence, and, on its disappear- 



I.V A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 235 

ance, the Venitians erected this vast edifice in grati- 
tude. It faces upon the Grand Canal, near its eastern 
mouth, and though somewhat dilapidated in its outer 
statuary, is considered the most magnificent church in 
the whole city. It contains Titian's " Descent of the 
Holy Spirit," and Tintoretto's '' Marriage of Cana,'' 
also a flag and pacha's tails captured from the Turks. 
In the Academy, a little to the west, is Titian's finest 
production, the "Assumption." But with all the relics 
of the past, we find their modern lace and glassware 
in close and successful rivalry. In fact, it is fully as 
marvellous and interesting. To one acquainted with 
the four to six foot streets of Venice, and the absence 
of every sort of vehicle, the origin of head transporta- 
tion, so common with the Italians in America, seems 
self-evident. 

When visiting a foreign city for the first time, it is 
well to see the people as they live, and although diffi- 
cult, as in Venice, you lose a good part of the real 
benefit of the trip unless you take a stroll around the 
streets and by-ways. You are hardly out of sight of 
one church before you fall in with another. As I 
looked up the Grand Canal, the magnificent tower of 
one stood, like some in Benares, inclined to the stream 
at an angle of 60 degrees, and probably has so stood 
for vears. If vou are not careful in the selection of 
your gondola, your personal comfort will be much 
greater on the narrow walks than on the water-ways. 



236 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 



as they often take you by the shorter routes through 
scenes and odors most execrable. If it were not for 
the daily tide here, it would be impossible for man to 
breathe. No one can realize the vast accumulation of 
filth of all kinds which such a large city produces. 
Sixty thousand of its people were once lost by pesti- 
lence, but how far traceable to this cause is not 
known. 

It was raining when I, in company with an English 
clergyman, took the train in departure, and w^as w^hirled 
out into mid-ocean, it seemed, towards solid land and 
Verona. It w^as soon reached, however. It is located 
on both banks of the Adige, and has many splendid 
edifices. Here Shakespeare has again immortalized an 
Italian locality in his " Romeo and Juliet." A public 
house is shown you as the residence of the Capulet 
family, the family of the loving but unfortunate Juliet, 
and in a neighboring garden is a chapel said to contain 
her remains. But never mind, we do not believe 
everything we hear. Where is Romeo ? Verona is 
known as the home of Pliny, who died while philo- 
sophically trying to solve the outbreak of Vesuvius in 
79. Paul Veronese also was born here, as were the 
Scaligers. It is beautifully surrounded with fields of 
grain, fruit and flowers. Its silk factories are numer- 
ous, and exports of raw silk very large. Just below 
at Mantua, Virgil was born. While on my way we 
stopped at Padua, the oldest city in northern Italy, and 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 237 

possessor of one of the oldest universities in the world. 
Dante once lived here, studying at the University with 
Petrarch. Galileo held a professorship here, and 
Har\^ey in 1602 was here graduated. I did not make a 
stay as it seemed less interesting and cleanly than 
other points farther on. As I went on towards Milan, 
Solferino, well known for its battle of 1859. soon came 
in sight, a little south of Lake Guarda. 

When I opened my eyes one lovely autumn morning 
and looked upon the clean streets and fresh marble and 
stone buildings of Milan, I thought I had never seen 
in the whole world so neat and beautiful a city. Time 
has not changed my mind. The air was fresh from 
the snow-crowned Alps, quite visible in the distance, 
and bright-green shrubbery filled park, avenue and 
garden. Its magnificent Cathedral, the bride of the 
earthly church, so strongly typical of religious truth 
and purity, sat in fairest white aw^aitirg our heartfelt 
adoration. Is it inspired ! It certainly inspires you. 
What hath man wrought ! There it rises, of pure white 
marble, 490 feet long and 180 feet wide. The more 
you gaze, the more deeply you feel the impossibility 
of adequate description. In fact, it is a long while 
before you can grasp the hundreds of pinnacles, spires 
and statues, and at last you find the eye running in 
bewilderment over its clouds of delicate tracery as if 
it were a vision. Nor is the effect less entrancing 
when you enter. Its clusters of pillars supporting the 



238 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

vault 90 feet above, its countless marble figures, its 
bright walls and lofty arches, all blend into the realm 
of the wonderful. Here they will show you a nail 
from the cross, some thorns from the crown, and a 
piece of the purple robe of Christ, the rod of Moses, 
and some of DanieFs and Abraham's teeth. These 
things jar upon your highly-wrought nerves as trumpery, 
for you can feel no faith in them, and you hasten out- 
side again, where nothing can disturb your meditations. 

The rising sun tints the countless pinnacles and 
magnificent tracery with rosy light till the beautiful 
structure seems alive with delicate coloring. The 
works of nature are so perfect, were there no history 
of its erection, it would be easy to believe that it 
sprang from the earth. Such a wonder can grow, but 
is seldom made. Why Napoleon never removed it to 
Paris, exceeds my comprehension ; everything else he 
could lay his hands on travelled that way. It must 
have been that he thought it would do just as well 
after he had conquered the world. Twice has Milan 
been taken by the French, once in 1796, and again 
after Marengo. The Simplon road commences here at 
the Arch of Peace, a fine marble structure 73 feet long 
and 74 feet high, with a bronze statue of Peace drawn 
in a car by six immense horses. 

The Church of St. Maria della Crozier still con- 
tains on its walls the masterpiece of Leonardo Da 
Vinci, 30x15 feet, "The Last Supper." After the 



INA TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 239 

battle of Marengo, the soldiers used this room for a 
stable, and the labor of sixteen years of Da Vinci's 
life was for a time threatened with destruction, but it 
fortunately escaped, and now its disturber, Napoleon I, 
has a fine statue by Canov^a in close proximity. To 
speak of Milan's art collections, or places of interest, 
would require a whole volume. Suffice it to say also, 
that as a place of business, it is a model for other 
Italian cities and, I believe, for the rest of the world. 
A little w^est and south are the historic fields of Ma- 
genta and Marengo, the latter being one of the closest 
of Napoleon's battles, both in severity of the contest 
and in loss of able men. 




A COIN FROM JERUSALEM. 



240 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 



CHAPTER IX. 

Beneath the dome of heaven's pure blue, amidst eternal snow, 
The glistening ice-fields at our feet, the smiling vales below, 
On Alpine peaks we stand. 



I 



T was late Autumn when I left Milan for Switzer- 
land. Hardly had I got beyond its walls w^hen my eye 
caught sight of the pretty lakes that make Italian 
scenery so celebrated. I was soon in Como, located 
at the southern end of a long, narrow lake, way down 
in the valley below, sparkling with blue and white so 
beautifully, I thought I had never seen anything so 
lovely, unless above the whirlpool below Niagara Falls. 
There the narrowness of the walls or banks of the 
river often give the same beautiful azure to the leaping 
water in the deep abyss below. Queen Caroline's old 
residence stands before you, once known as the Villa 
d' Este, and the picturesque loveliness of the sur- 
rounding heights is too grand for expression. And 
yet, nestled down in the valley is a city of about 25,000 
people, with double walls, and actively engaged in 
manufacture of silk, cotton and woolen goods. You 
realize but one thing, and that is, the sublimity of its 
mountain scenery. It seems like the connecting link 
between the mighty Alps and the fertile plains. Vege- 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 241 

tation runs to the very summit of these hills, and one 

of its prettiest sights is that of a clear white marble 

villa peeping out from its surrounding orange, citron 

and mulberry groves. When you reflect that the lake 

is 35 by 22 miles, you form but a faint idea of its 

real effect. Even in midsummer you have but to 

mount one of its hills to see the snow-crowned peaks 

of the distant Alps. 

*' Sublime, but neither bleak nor bare. 
Nor misty are the mountains there, 
Softly sublime, profusely fair ; 
Looks out the white-walled cottage here, 
The lowly chapel rises near." 

On leaving Como the air became gradually cooler. 
Chiasso and then Mendrissia soon came in view. At 
the latter place the ice and snow-capped Alps seemed 
quite near. We soon crossed Lake Lugano, and came 
to the place of the same name on its northern border. 
None of these Italian lakes are wholly in view at the 
same moment, and in that lies a great deal of their 
attractiveness. They are as winding and narrow as 
they are intensely blue. From here to Bellinzona 
the green landscape and the heavily laden vine keeps 
your attention riveted. Strong, rosy women and girls 
trudge over the fields and along the single road to 
their distant home, with tall wicker baskets strapped 
to the back filled to the brim with luscious grapes. 
You want to stop and run through its green fields and 
shady groves as light-hearted as its people. Lake 



242 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

Maggiore, with its long, narrow strip of bluest water, is 
away to our left, dotted here and there with little 
sail-boats as white as the villas hanging to the hillsides 
Bellinzona is the largest place just before reaching the 
St. Gothard Tunnel. Its importance arises in part to 
its being the junction of four railroads. 

I was soon on my way to Switzerland over the tow- 
ering snow-crowned Alps. Although I had the choice 
of two carriage roads, one over the Splugen Pass on 
the east, and that over the Simplon Pass to the west, 
I preferred to try the Mt. St. Gothard Pass and its cel- 
ebrated railroad, and soon after leaving the last named 
station we gradually began our tortuous ascent to the 
clouds. St. Bernard Pass and Mt. Blanc loomed up 
away to the southwest. Slowly but surely up we went, 
and on looking down I wondered why the valleys 
below were so full of railways. It was not long before 
I found that away up above us were not only other 
lines but tunnels, and began to see that they were all 
but a part of the one circuitous route I was pursuing. 
Still up, up, up, we went, now climbing into a dark 
hole in the mountain, and then crawling out into day- 
light, till we found ourselves viewing again and again 
the same low valley or snow-capped peak, like so many 
new scenes. 

For over nine miles, we were in the heart of the 
mountain in one continuous tunnel. The infant Rhine 
rolled down the steeps on my right, w^hile to my left 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. . 243 

splashed and gurgled the rills that start the mighty 
Rhone. Hundreds of feet above, waterfalls burst 
over the rocks, fell into mist and soared away in 
clouds. The region of perpetual snow on my left 
shone like burnished silver. There was the noble 
Finsteraarh, 14,026 feet; Shreckhorn, 13,394 feet ; and 
Jungfrau, 13,761 feet, flanked by others of as great, if 
not greater height. Away to the southwest were 
Monte Rosa, 15,217; Matterhorn, 14,705; and Weis- 
horn, 14,804 feet. The modest hospice of St. Gothard, 
perched like an eagle in its loneliness, appeared on 
my left just before entering the tunnel, and the hospi- 
tal and Devil's Bridge back to the left of our exit at 
Oberalp. 

From the thrifty farms and fertile fields up the giant 
peaks, through chestnut groves laden with ripe fruit, 
past picturesque cowherd with patient drove quietly 
grazing on the hills, still up past flocks of goats nibbling 
to the very snow line, we labored on. The tinkling 
of bells and the plash of the waterfalls, alone, broke 
the quiet air. From the plank house with first story 
of stone for a barn, to the rough log building with its 
long overhanging roof, we came to the desert, the wil- 
derness of the air. The trees grew less tall and 
drooped their thick branches as if perennial snow and 
rain had destroyed all their buoyancy. Long lines of 
firmly imbedded posts and interwoven branches and 
vines stood far up from the railroad to protect it from 



244 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

avalanche or rush of spring torrents. ^ Now and then 
a group of picturesque dwellings nestled or clung to 
a little green plain where none but the mountain eagle 
or vulture can live in safety, and every boom that 
startles your hearing brings sad forebodings of dis- 
aster. Like a mist, the light snow rises and reveals a 
solid cloud of white where, but a few minutes before, 
all was lovely green. And thousands of feet below on 
the pretty level farms, men, women and children are 
making their autumn hay and gathering fruit. Fine 
plump cattle and sheep quietly graze in the rich pas- 
tures and beside the blue waters, as if the world held 
naught but health and peacefulness. 

At 2 P. M. I was at Goeschenen, the first village 
beyond the tunnel, in Switzerland, in a light snow- 
storm, but passed right on to Altorf, the capital of the 
Canton of Uri, and memorable for the traditional shot 
of William Tell immortalized by Schiller. The patriot's 
reputed birthplace, Burglen, lies a little to the east. 
Altorf contains the oldest Capuchin convent in Switzer- 
land. It is romantically located near the Bay of Uri, 
and never wearies with its grand and lovely views. 
Not far beyond, we come to Fluelen, on the same 
sheet of water, and containing TelPs chapel, and still 
further on to Schwyz, the capital of the canton of the 
same name. Besides being interesting on account of 
being the scene of the early struggles of the Swiss 
against their Austrian oppressors, from Altorf down 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 245 

they are memorable for the retreat of the Russian 
Army before the French in 1799. 

Wide on both sides extend the green fields, full of 
fine plump cattle and sheep. Even vegetables and 
wheat yield abundantly. As I alight, a buxom dame 
and daughter stand viewing my train, with the most 
pronounced admiration of the whole equipment. Their 
cheeks were like roses, and well worthy of returned 
admiration, which they undoubtedly received. Every- 
thing in Switzerland has the appearance of perfect 
health, and yet here the barns, for stabling all their do- 
mestic animals, are built beneath the same house that 
is to shelter the family. In pleasant weather, you sel- 
dom find a woman's head protected, and they would 
laugh at the idea of corsets. Man as I am, I envied 
them in their happy consciousness of health and 
strength. And that is not all, for health often means 
content and good nature. Well may they love their 
green fields, deep blue lakes and Alpine peaks ! 
Stranger as I was, it made me homesick to depart. 
Goldau and the Rigi somewhat consoled me. Lake 
Zug, at your feet at the north, and Lake Lucerne on 
the south, with bright little Kussnacht nestling in the 
green, level valley, is a panorama never to be forgotten. 

With Alpine stocks, like so many brave shepherd- 
esses, some ten young ladies accompanied us to the 
small railway, and when seated in the car looked the 
perfect picture of healthy country life. Some were 



246 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

English, some French, and a few German, but not 
one, however pale at home, failed to rival the others 
in the roses on their cheeks or the firmness with which 
they grasped the Alpine crook. The ascent is not 
very long, but slow, as the grade is 250 per 1000 feet, 
and rises from Lake Lucerne 5,739 feet. None re- 
gretted the ascent, even though snow was rapidly 
falling, and cold, unwelcome tremors ran through one's 
precious body in spite of stern determination to appear 
nice and comfortable. It was but a few weeks before 
that I was broiling under an Arabian sun, and longing 
for just such a climate. Yet I was happy in my mis- 
ery, for others were colder than I, and threatened the 
frequent overturning of the car, when at times they 
found it impossible to longer remain desperately im- 
passive, and suddenly, with a sudden '* Oh dear ! " 
went off into a convulsive shiver that shook us all into 
loud laughter. 

On my descent, I went on to Lucerne, the chief 
place in the canton of that name. It lies at the head 
of Lake Lucerne, in the midst of cultivated hills and 
grand, distant mountains. It is partly surrounded by 
an ancient wall with octagonal towers, one of which 
once served as a light-house to the Lake, hence its 
name. From merely a monastery, it has gradually 
grown to a city of 18,000 souls. It still has two of its 
ancient covered wooden bridges spanning the river, 
^nd also a work of interesting art in its *' Lion " by 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 247 

Thorwaldsen, commemorating the members of the 
Swiss Guard who fell defending the Tuilleries in Paris 
in 1792. 

The Lake of Lucerne extends for eight miles its 
narrow and beautifully irregular course, between steep 
mountains rising from 4000 to 5000 feet above, and, 
making a sharp bend south, becomes the Bay of Uri 
before referred to. As many as four large hotels testify 
to its growing importance as a summer resort. There 
are also small steamers regularly running up and down 
its pretty surface. x\part from the rare loveliness of 
hill and plain, lake and river, many deeds of memora- 
ble heroism tend to rivet the Swiss to his native land. 
This it is what keeps contentment in their homes and 
unity in their government. Their early struggles for 
liberty against Austria, so dearly bought, still remains 
a lesson to keep from war and bloodshed. The Roman 
army. Napoleon's army, the Russian, and the Italian 
have all scoured the country to and over the Alps, but, 
like spring following winter, the warm rays of peace 
have made her fertile valleys again blossom like the 
rose. The common dwelling is made of four corner 
posts, filled in between with plank or stone, while up 
the steep Alpine heights, none are seen but the rude 
formation of one log notched and laid upon another. 
The low, overhanging roof, however, redeems it from 
unsightliness, and even, with its surrounding drooping 



248 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

firs, presents a scene strongly picturesque. How can 
a people breathe in such a land and not be free ! 

From here I went to Sempach, where the leagued 
cantons defeated Austria. It is a small place quietly 
located by a little lake of the same name. I was next 
at Zurich, at the head of the pretty Lake Zurich. It 
is a large place for the country, numbering about 
76,000 people. It has a university and a fine art 
school. She it was, years ago, that offended Germany 
by lavish praise of the English poets, Milton and 
Shakespeare. Although in a plain, it joined the moun- 
tain cantons for liberty. Crossing the Aar at Brugg, 
I was soon in Basle, quite on the frontier of Alsace. 
Here I found myself by the noble Rhine once more. 
Here, again, is a university, and an old Gothic cathe- 
dral bearing date of loio, and containing the tomb of 
Erasmus and other eminent divines ; for theology has 
always held sway here since the days of Cop and John 
Calvin, who studied and carried on their crusade 
against the weaknesses of the Catholic clergy here. 
Here was started, in 1804, the first Bible Society on 
the Continent. Silk, cotton and woollen goods are 
largely manufactured, but its chief trade is in ribbons. 
The battle of St. Jacob took place in its vicinity, and 
since the old Romans first located the outpost, its 
vicissitudes in times of war have been many. In 1431 
a council to reform the Church was here held. In 
1437 the council ordered the Pope to appear before 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 249 

them at this place, and he replied by proroguing the 
council. Still the council continued its sittings and 
reprimanded his Holiness for his disregard. It seems 
to have been a struggle between the universities or 
seats of learning and the papal chair, and after the 
appointment of a rival Pope, and death of the incum- 
bent, harmony was brought about by a compromise. 
Much of interest might be added to these few words, 
but I am in haste to get away from the chilly air and 
view the blue Alsatian mountains beyond. 

The next day I reached Mulhausen, the chief place 
in upper Alsace. The south of the town is prettily 
laid out in promenades, but some of the other portions 
are far from attractive. It is an old mediaeval town, 
but little but its town-house shows the marks of age. 
Several wealthy families have, for years, monopolized 
the manufacture of muslins and calico printing. There 
is a system of workingmen's homes, similar to that in 
America, where the laborer may obtain a neat, com- 
plete home by paying a certain sum monthly from his 
wages. The people, at the close of the Franco-Prus- 
sian war, began to emigrate, on account of their 
strong French sympathies, but as time goes on she 
may regain her loss from other nations. 

About seventy miles north, after passing through 
Colmar with its old cathedral of 1363, I came to 
Strasburg, the stronghold of the Rhine, surrounded 
by green fields, and lifting to the sky its vast cathedral 



250 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

towers to the height of 465 feet. Instead of suffering 
from its severe bombardment in the late war, it seems 
to have expanded and put on the appearance of new, 
wide streets and modern style of architecture. The 
old part has streets too narrow for comfort or conven- 
ience, and is a type of a mediaeval town. Part of its 
cathedral dates back to 1015, but the spire was not 
finished till over 400 years after. Gutenburg spent a 
part of his life here, an event now commemorated by a 
statue. There is one also to Gen. Kleber, who was 
born in the place. The old university lies a little to the 
east of the cathedral, and is now in a flourishing con- 
dition. About 90,000 dwell within the new walls and 
fortifications of the city, and near the university is 
stationed the 15 th corps of the German Army. Before 
the war of 1870-71, a large part of the people were 
Germans, but really sympathized with France, which 
led to a large emigration to Canada and the United 
States, as soon as their conquerors enclosed Alsace 
within the German lines. For a military town of the first 
magnitude its trade is curious, consisting of pates de 
foie gras. or '' fat liver pies," to the amount of $500,000 
annually, hops, sausages, hams and sauerkraut. 

From three to five miles from the centre of the town, 
at certain intervals, the Germans have put a circle of 
fourteen forts, thus greatly strengthening it as a strate- 
getic point. The old pentagonal citadel of 1682 was 
totally destroyed in the Franco-Prussian war. The 8th 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 251 

Roman Legion was once stationed here, then called 
Argentoratum. In 1349, for alleged poisoning of the 
wells of the town, 2,000 Jews were burnt to death. 
The peace of Ryswick in 1697 gave Alsace and Stras- 
burg to the French, but after a siege of seven weeks 
17,000 of the French Army surrendered the place to. 
the Germans in 1870. During a part of the engage- 
ment, ten to fifteen shells were sent into the town per 
minute. At night, soldiers could read ordinary print 
four miles distant by the light of the burning Public 
Library, the new Temple, Museum of Painting, and 
many other fine buildings. Everything has been 
cleared away, till now there is no appearance of the 
deplorable ruin. Twenty thousand people were left 
without homes or money. There were not 300 houses 
in the whole place uninjured. 

From Strasburg, both Nancy and Marion were before 
me, but as I was quite familiar with the latter, I decided 
to pay a visit to the former instead. It is the old cap- 
ital of Lorraine, and fell into the hands of the French 
at the same time with Strasburg. It now contains 
many of the Alsatians who left their native soil at the 
close of the late war, which so quickly returned nearly 
all but Nancy to the German fold again. They are 
now engaged in the manufacture of hosiery, fine em- 
broideries and artificial flowers. It has, among other 
interesting institutions, a thriving University and many 
schools. 



252 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

After passing by long white streiets shaded with the 
tall Lombardy poplar, and over wide and level fields 
long since harvested, where many a brave soldier lost 
his life before Metz, I reached Chalons, an old provin- 
cial town that had twice, in the Middle Ages, repulsed 
the English from her walls, and once been capital in 
place of Paris. It has nineteen acres of fine park, 
which suffered severely in the Franco-Prussian war. 
The old woolen fabric called ^' Shalloon " originated 
'here which, together with shoes, hosiery, cotton cloth, 
and its immense wine trade, constitutes the chief busi- 
ness of its active inhabitants. It has a Cathedral 
going back to the twelfth century, a Benedictine Ab- 
bey, and a host of other relics of the past. Attila 
was here defeated in 451. MacMahon was once lo- 
cated here, but it early fell into the hands of the 
Germans, and on account of its railroad facilities 
became an important aid to their final victory in 1872; 

I had now come to a familiar part of France, so I 
took a midnight train for Creil, Amiens and Calais. 
The night was dark and rainy, the rain soon changing 
to hail and snow. An American lady, with two fine 
appearing young sons, was my only companion until 
we stopped for early lunch, when we found, on our 
returning, our compartment taken by two inveterate 
smokers, who had made it unfit for occupancy. 
Through Northern Italy and the whole of Switzerland, 
I had been fortunate in securing one of the two single 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 253 

Upholstered chairs, now to be found on the left side 
of their compartment cars, which gave me all the 
accommodation of a drawing-room train. When day- 
light broke, the wide, fertile fields of Normandy, stocked 
with grain or covered with shivering cattle and sheep, 
lay spread out before me on all sides. Although it 
was away back in 1874 and 1877 when I had visited 
the country, everything seemed unchanged. Even 
Boulogne, with its old stone Cathedral on the hillside, 
and its high cross, where Napoleon with his large army 
pondered the feasibility of crossing to subdue Eng- 
land ; and Calais, with its citadel, erected by Cardinal 
Richelieu in 1641, and its revolving light shedding its 
resplendent rays to the distance of twenty miles, ap- 
peared as quaint and dull as ever. Calais is well 
fortified, even having meadows on two sides capable 
of being quickly flooded in event of danger. A sub- 
marine cable is here laid under the Straits of Dover to 
England. The terminus of the proposed tunnel to 
England is six miles west. After the famous battle of 
Crecy, in 1346, Edward III. of England laid siege and 
gave it into the hands of England till 1550, when 
30,000 men under the Duke of Gnise succeeded in re- 
taking it. 

Twice a day the English mail-boats steam across to 
Dover and return, and it is a pleasant pastime any 
warm, pleasant day to sit and watch this great thor- 
oughfare of England, Norway, Sweden and Germany, 



254 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

as the different vessels constantly pass in review. The 
white-fringed caps of the fisherwomen peer out from 
under mounds of black fish-nets upon their bending 
shoulders, as they stride down to the sea. Women in 
frilled muslin descend from their two-wheeled bread 
and milk wagons and deliver their goods, even on 
Sunday, with little less grace than in their household 
duties. I again saw it all, as I had the Sunday in 
1874, when first I trod the soil of France. But soon 
we were all aboard in search of a warm spot. No one, 
after looking at the high billows, cared to go below, 
so down on deck men, women and children soon en- 
sconced themselves behind the solid rail. Once out 
in the Channel, a cross sea of immense billows steadily 
hammered our feeble starboard until it seemed impos- 
sible to go on, but by a slight inclination of the bows 
we succeeded in getting in sight of Dover Castle, and 
at last the high granite embankment of the town. 
The passage was but little more than an hour's dura- 
tion, but, thank the Lord, it was no longer, or there 
would have been little left to some of us. Yet its 
yellowish-green billows, so fatal to happiness, are 
always beautiful here, and it was so icy cold it is a 
great wonder how seasickness could get a chance to 
work at all. 



IK A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 255 



CHAPTER X. 

The globe at last is won. 

Adieu, good friends. Welcome grateful home ! 

rROM Dover, I wished to take a turn to the west 
to see Hastings, where William the Conqueror in one 
short hour changed the destiny of England, if not the 
world ; and the quaint old town of Lewes, connected, 
so many centuries ago with my name and ancestry. 
Lewes, the county town of Sussex, sits on a hillside, 
about seven miles north of the English Channel, on 
which it has a port called Newhaven. Its great antiquity 
is disclosed by the ruins of King Alfred's old castle on 
the height back of the town. One main street extends 
through the centre of the town, from which issue many 
little streets at right angles. The cliffs of chalk, so 
common in southern England, really form its location 
and surrounding country. Here it w^as that, in 1264, 
Simon de Montfort defeated Henry III. It was the 
royal stronghold and seat of the South Saxon kings, 
and Athelstan here established a mint that continued 
to the time of William the Conqueror. Until 1868 it 
returned two members to Parliament. In 1845, ^"^ the 
grounds of the old priory of St. Pancras dating 1078, 
were unearthed two ancient lead coffins, one contain- 



256 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

ing the remains of William de Warren, who rebuilt the 
old castle here, and the other those of Gundrada. 
Roman coins are continually coming to light from the 
soil, and ancient mounds testify to its great antiquity. 
A remnant of the old Norman style of architecture is 
still seen in its Church of St. John. St. Anne's, also, 
is very early English. St. Michael's is bare and plain, 
but has some fine old monuments. For years the 
place has been celebrated for its iron and brass work, 
and some curious old specimens are still found in the 
latter church. 

The names Lewes and Lewis are of the same deriva- 
tion, both abridged and euphonised from the Latin 
appellation Ludovicus, through the Norman-French 
Louis. A few miles west is located England's most 
fashionable watering place, but as Brighton had no 
especial interest to me, my return to the London, 
Chatham and Dover R. R. was immediately made, and 
a train taken for the ancient town of Canterbury. 
Even then traces of snow lay on the sides of the track, 
but the sloping hills and green fields of Kent were 
still clear and beautiful. The little villages and iso- 
lated farm buildings, with the omnipresent round hop 
tower, in the absence of forest or grove, stood out in 
barest outline, and thousands of slender poles, still 
standing, like skeletons, in the wide gardens, disclosed 
that it is still a great hop-raising country. After leaving 
Dover, Canterbury is soon reached, and as you alight 



IN A TOUR AROUAW THE WORLD, 257 

at the station, its undulating aspect at once attracts 
your attention. It is a city now, and the Archbishop 
of its ancient cathedral is primate of all England. 
Here the Romans built their town, Durovernum, and 
here Ethelbert held his court and made it the capital 
of all England. During his reign, in 596, Augustine 
arrived from Rome to introduce Christianity. In 1170 
the unfortunate affair between Henry II. and Thomas 
a Becket, which ended in Becket's death in the cathe- 
dral, took place, and made Canterbury the Mecca o^ 
the whole country. This ran on until Henry VIIL 
destroyed the shrine of St. Thomas. Chaucer, writing 
in the fourteenth century, pleasantly represents the 
pilgrims leisurely sauntering along the highway, telling 
anecdote and story^ and making it a holiday excursion. 
Even to this day we constantly use two words handed 
down therefrom : a canter, or easy pace, and a Canter- 
bury tale, a fictitious narrative. 

On one side of the station is the Martyrs' Field. 
On the other a tall round stone tower, surmounting a 
high mound, called Danejohn or Donjon, attributed to 
the early Celts. A little north are the old Norman 
Castle ruins, and further east, standing on the sight of 
a Roman temple given to St. Augustine and his fol- 
lowers by King Ethelbert, the famous old Cathedral. 
This church was destroyed, but rebuilt in 1070. Leav- 
ing out the proportions and history of the Cathedral, 
it awakens no deeper interest than St. Martin's, away 



258 PLEASANT HOURS f-N SUNNY LANDS, 

to the southeast on St. Martin's Hill. This was the 
church of Bertha, Ethelbert's queen, before 596 and 
Augustine's arrival, and is probably the earliest church 
in all England. 

Leaving Canterbury by the same road, the next 
point of interest was Rochester Castle, old and gray, 
almost square, perched upon a high elevation on the 
left. The river Medway peacefully flows between 
sloping banks of richest green at its feet. Its style is 
Norman, and it is said to have been built by Gun- 
dulph. Bishop of Rochester, in the eleventh century. 
Here King John, Simon de Montfort and Wat Tyler, 
each, in his day, laid long siege ; and within its walls 
have been entertained Henry III., Henry VIII., 
Charles V., Queen Bess, Charles II. and James II. 
Yet there it stands, grandly surveying the beautiful 
landscape, bare, almost cruel in its lines, a patriarch 
of feudal ages still defiant of time. The smoke of 
London, St. Paul's dome, and the sluggish Thames 
come quickly into view after leaving Rochester, and 
then I felt at home. Years before, the land marks of 
the Tower, almost down by the water's side ; St. 
Paul's ; The Inns of Court by the old London Bar, 
now removed and replaced by a statue and tablets ; 
Leicester Square, with its bust of my namesake, Sir 
Isaac Newton, prominent chin, straight, well-formed 
nose, and hair parted in the middle, and all, the inno- 
cent cause of many an unhappy hour in childhood, and 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 259 

Still instant aggravator of my own insignificance ; Cha- 
ring Cross j Trafalgar Square ; Houses of Parliament, 
Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace had be- 
come familiar, so in a very few minutes I was at my 
hotel near the Square. In spite of my great fatigue, 
the quarter strokes of Big Ben in his high tower on 
the Houses of Parliament, and his solemn hourly peal, 
accompanied with the bar of music from St. Martin's, 
and distant call of still another, kept me wide awake till 
nearly daylight. 

When I awoke it was as cold as Greenland, an icy 
chill penetrating to the marrow. It was quite early 
when, after breakfasting, I went out and found upon 
the rude seats and cold stone pavement around the 
fountains of the Square, scores of tattered men and 
boys sound asleep, their purple, sunken faces betray- 
ing the chill their ill-clad bodies were suffering. I had 
seen such an exhibition of great London's poor years 
since, and quickly recalled the noise and street dis- 
turbance of the night before. There had been a riot, 
a bread riot so called, and mounted police had been 
called out to ride down and dispel them. These were 
but a few specimens of the immense crowd of five 
hours before left asleep on the field. On the next 
Sunday, one of this very crowd walked boldly into 
Westminster Abbey, but a short distance from the 
Square, and interrupted divine service by publicly in- 
sulting the Dean. Shall I prolong my story? My 



260 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

object in writing at all is merely to jot down in a frag- 
mentary way what may occur to me of my long and 
happy trip Conscious that I have omitted many in- 
teresting experiences, and that too little care has been 
taken in relating what I have really given, I have now 
arrived as near the end of my tale as I have to the end 
of my long journey. 

After my usual service at St. Paul's, and a run through 
Western England, out upon the cool sea, far from 
the chilly, smoky land, I at last find time to rest and 
reflect. 

Hardly hours away from shore, when, while prome- 
nading the hurricane deck and trying to get my sea- 
legs on, there came a sudden lunge of the steamer, 
and I saw something drop from above strike heavily 
on the rail, and disappear into the boisterous waves 
below. With an effort, I gained the side and saw the 
bloody and frightened face of a man just rising above 
the surface. The officer on deck was by my side in an 
instant, and the captain and officer on the bridge at 
the same time discovered the accident, but it was some 
little time before we were aware that anything was to 
be done for the poor fellow's rescue. He could yet 
be seen trying to wave his hand to catch our attention. 
A few men ran to the davits and began to leisurely cut 
the cords of a boat's covering. It looked as though 
an order had been given merely for repairs. No 
attempt was made to turn about, and only a slight 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, 261 

change was noticed in the vessel's speed. The cov- 
ering of the boat was not removed, however, and in a 
few minutes the vessel was racing on as before, and a 
poor, disabled mortal left alone in the cruel power of 
certain death. " Some vessel may pick him up,'* the 
officer said. That possibility did not, could not exist, 
to be of any avail, except to his dead body. Was it 
business ! Was it because the will of one man, or even 
a majority, must rule ! We all may be forced by cir- 
cumstances to sacrifice, at the expense of justice or 
humanity, to this narrow and selfish doctrine so com- 
mon in this world, and so deserving of punishment in 
the next, but no true man permits it long. 

Several cold but pleasant days, in which the mighty 
billows lifted themselves bodily out of the water and 
sank in sheer exhaustion suddenly back again, now 
followed. Each morning the sun rose sparkling in the 
cold, clear horizon like an immense sapphire. I was 
fast nearing home. My watch and calendar, after 
varying nearly twelve hours fast, then slow, was grad- 
ually approaching true, standard time. My thoughts 
began to travel faster than my faculty of realization. 
In a few days — but stop ! Two sailors are bearing 
towards the vessel's side a long, canvas-covered ob- 
ject strikingly like a heathen idol. It has a head, 
shoulders and shape like a human being. The burden 
is finally borne forward and rested on the bulwark. 
At sea any such object has a strong fascination, and 



262 PLEASANT HOURS IN SUNNY LANDS, 

captain, officers, doctor, steward, and a few weeping 
passengers soon approach and stand by its side. Then 
the old familiar scene of the sad part of ocean life 
forces my understanding. There is to be a burial ! 
Some soul, less fortunate than ourselves, had, that 
morning, fled this clay, left it untenanted and forlorn. 

The bell at my side begins slowly to toll out the 
years that breath and life have made their dwelling- 
place there. In solemn tones the Captain reads, " I 
Know that My Redeemer Liveth." Then a signal, a 
quick withdrawal of the National flag, a harsh, grating 
rasp, and heavily down into the pitiless, restless ocean 
depths plunged a helpless form. The closing billows 
leap and dance, and chase each other up and down 
over an unknown grave. Thus, within a few days' jour- 
ney from home, an apparently healthy and strong young 
man had found a watery tomb, while I, after a long 
course of from 30,000 to 35,000 miles, in perfect health, 
still seemed destined to reach home in safety. An 
inscrutable Providence ! 

Soon the thick fog of the Newfoundland Banks 
closed densely in until, one morning, I was startled by 
the appearance of a bright light on our starboard bow. 
It was Cape Race Light, but t,ooo miles from New 
York. Two days later, we signaled our arrival off 
Fire Island, and before night saw Coney Island, 
Rockaway, and Sandy Hook nearly in front. We were 
in time to escape the bar, and by sunset stood off 



IN A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 263 

Quarantine. A few minutes* delay, and we steamed 
by the Goddess of Liberty — whose benignant counte- 
nance I had bid good-bye so many months before, in 
grave doubt as to my ever seeing her bright face again, 
— my world-wide trip well ended. 



INDEX 



Page. 

ACAJUTLA 38 

acaptjlco 42 

Ade>^ 179 

Africa 183 

Alexandria 201 

AXAM 113 

Arabia 179 

aspinwall 23 



BAHA3IAS , 15 

Basle 248 

Bexares 158 

Bethlehem 219 

Borxeo 114 

BURMAH 137 

Brindisi 226 

Cairo 207 

Calais 253 

Calcutta 147 

California 58 

Canterbury 257 

3 



Canton lOi 



Central America 29 

Ceylon 168 

Chalon 252 

Champerico 41 

China 95 

Colombo 169 

CoMO 240 

Crete 224 

Cuba. 17 



2G6 INDEX. 

England 254 

Egypt 201 

Fluelen 244 

France \ 251 

Ganges 154 

Germany 249 

Greece 224 

Hayti 17 

Hebron 220 

Hong-Kong 98 

India 143 

ISMALIA 197 

Italy 226 

Jamaica 18 

Japan 80 

Java 118 

Jericho 220 

Jerusalem 217 

JoppA 216 

Jordan 221 

KirssNACHT 245 

Lewes 255 

Libertad 36 

London 258 

Lucerne 246 

Madras 162 

Malay Peninsula 117 

Marion 251 

Mazatlan 51 

Mexico 42 

Milan 237 

Mt. Sinai 185 

mulhausen 249 

Nancy — 251 



INDEX. 267 

Padua 236 

Palestine , 216 

Panama and Canal 24 

Penang 128 

PONDICHEEEY 165 

Poet Said 200 

PuNTA Aeenas 31 

Pyeamids 210 

RiGi : 245 

rochestee 257 

San Feancisco 59 

San Jose 38 

San Salvadoe 36 

SlAM 113 

SiNGAPOEE 119 

South Ameeica _ 20 

St. Gothaed, Alps, and Tunnel 142 

Steasbueg 250 

Suez and Canal 188 

SUMATEA 118 

SWITZEELAND 244 

ToKio 91 

TUEKEY 228 

Ubi 244. 

Venice 230 

Yeeona 236 

Watling' s Island 16 

Yokohama 81 

YosEMiTE Valley 66 

Z ANTE 224 

ZuEiCH 247 



